The Parents Association of School Students (PASS) has urged the government to introduce a centralized system to ensure the quality of food items, and award of contract of canteens, being run at educational institutions in the capital.
A meeting of the parents association held here on Sunday noted that throat infections and stomach problems are on rise these days due to substandard and non-branded edible items being sold without expiry dates at canteens.
The parents told the meeting that due to low gas pressure they gave money to their children to buy something for lunch from school.
Most of the cases were reported from the Islamabad Model Collage for Girls, F-10/2, where two canteens had been running. However, one of them has been closed down following differences between the contractors of both the canteens.
President of PASS Pir Muradya addressed the meeting and said that a centralized system can address the issue of unhygienic items.
“Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) should introduce regulations for running canteens and ensure the quality of edible items at educational institutions,” the President added.
He said that this was the question of the health of over 200,000 students studying in 423 educational institutions under Federal Directorate of Education. Most of the edible items including chips, snacks, oil to fry samosas, and other items, are purchased by contractors in loose at cheaper rates so that they can double their profit.
He said that the health of the children should be taken very seriously but unfortunately, the administrations of these schools do not take it seriously. The situation is made worse by the fact that parents lack awareness on the issue. The nutrition level and the quality of every item sold in the canteens should be checked regularly by public health officers.
