Busan Office of Education Announces Basic Directions for School and Kindergarten Meals This Year

Safe, Healthy, and Enjoyable School Meals for All

Busan Metropolitan Office of Education (Acting Superintendent Choi Yoon-hong) announced the "Basic Directions for School and Kindergarten Meals for the 2025 Academic Year" on the 5th to ensure safe and high-quality school meals and healthy and enjoyable nutrition education.

The Busan Metropolitan Office of Education establishes and announces the basic directions for school meals annually, reflecting the Ministry of Education's meal policies, revisions to related laws, and opinions from school sites, to provide guidance on nutrition management, dietary education, hygiene, and safety management.

This year's basic directions for school meals focus on ▲ establishing a safe meal environment ▲ operating healthy meals ▲ strengthening sustainable nutrition and dietary education.

According to the 2025 academic year meal basic directions, the Busan Metropolitan Office of Education plans to fully improve kitchen ventilation facilities and expand the installation of automated and electric meal equipment to build a "safe meal environment." It will also promote the modernization of meal rooms to meet or exceed HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) facility standards and the installation of dietary education centers (cafeterias).

Additionally, 100 cooking staff will be added to improve working conditions, especially in schools with relatively difficult conditions such as 2- and 3-meal schools, oversized schools, and schools with classroom distribution or combined (classroom + cafeteria) distribution. In particular, practical training will be newly introduced for new and low-experience kitchen workers to enhance their adaptability and practical skills on site.

To strengthen the foundation for safe food ingredient supply, inspections of food ingredient quality and safety and joint inspections of food ingredient suppliers with related organizations will also be conducted.

To operate healthy meals, free meal expenses increased by 8% compared to the previous year (average support unit price: kindergarten 3,160 KRW, elementary 4,170 KRW, middle 5,330 KRW, high school 5,570 KRW) will be supported, and the purchase of environmentally friendly excellent agricultural products will continue to be supported. In addition, excellent recipes for each school level will be developed and distributed, alternative menus for food allergies will be provided, and vegetable and fruit eating days will be continuously operated.

For safe meal operation in kindergartens, on-site customized consulting will be supported for kindergartens that wish to participate. Especially, to support meal management in small private kindergartens, nutrition teachers from the education support office will conduct nutrition and hygiene management, nutrition and dietary education, and visiting parent education.

With the goal of "strengthening sustainable nutrition and dietary education," the school dietary education rooms and school kitchen projects will be expanded. At the Busan Metropolitan Office of Education Nutrition Education Experience Center, various experiential nutrition education programs such as the "Nutrition Experience Classroom Visiting Schools" are operated for about 8,000 students annually, and nutrition and dietary education at kindergartens and schools is actively supported through lending of teaching kits.

The Busan Metropolitan Office of Education will hold a "Basic Directions for School Meals Briefing Session" over two days on the 5th (Student Education and Culture Hall) and 6th (Education Research Information Center) for about 780 nutrition teachers and dietitians from kindergartens, elementary, middle, and high schools to support the establishment of meal plans and substantial meal operation on site.

Acting Superintendent Choi Yoon-hong said, "Our Office of Education is making efforts to communicate actively with the educational field based on the establishment of basic directions for school meals, to provide systematic meal management and high-quality, safe meals," and added, "I hope this year's basic directions for school meals will greatly help substantial meal operations on site."