Gyeonggi Office of Education to Pilot Voluntary Meal Selection Starting April

Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education will pilot voluntary meal selection starting from April.

The Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education is operating 75 'Autonomous Choice Meal Model Schools.'

The Office of Education announced on the 22nd that from April this year to February next year, it will select 75 Autonomous Choice Meal Model Schools through three stages: application by interested schools, recommendation by education support offices, and selection by a committee. The plan includes ▲ operating diverse meal services ▲ nutrition and dietary education ▲ improving the cafeteria environment with various spaces to research practical application methods.

Model schools can operate autonomous serving, choice menus, salad bars, etc., depending on the school's conditions. Student-led meal activities linked to the curriculum and enhanced nutrition and dietary education to address picky eating and food waste issues will also be strengthened.

Additionally, by introducing automated meal service equipment and improving facilities, the workload of kitchen staff will be reduced, and reflecting the opinions of school members, school cafeterias can be utilized as diverse spaces.

The Office of Education plans to form a specialized support group for autonomous choice meals to continuously communicate with the field through consulting and training, and to support schools by developing nutrition and dietary education materials.

Park Man-young, head of the School Meal and Health Division at the Office of Education, emphasized, "The purpose of autonomous choice meals is for students to become the main agents of meal service themselves and to expand students' autonomy and choice by operating diverse meal options. We will continuously communicate with the educational community and support the field to operate various autonomous choice meal model schools suitable for school conditions."

Meanwhile, in a public opinion survey conducted in January among 1,001 high school students in the province, 82.6% of students responded that 'operating autonomous choice meals is necessary.' By grade, 86.3% of first-year, 82.9% of second-year, and 78.9% of third-year students answered that autonomous choice meals are necessary.