Following the discussion at the meeting in Pervomaisk, the inspection of the school catering arrangements continued

In Pervomaisk, the inspection of catering services in the community’s educational establishments has been extended until a full survey of all educational institutions has been completed. A specially formed commission has already inspected 17 out of 35 educational establishments.

The relevant order was signed by the mayor, Oleh Demchenko.

The document provides for the continuation of the commission’s work, which involves monitoring catering facilities in schools and nurseries, the availability of generators to ensure hot meals, and compliance with temperature regulations in educational establishments.

The commission must complete its analysis of direct contracts for the procurement of food, inspect all establishments, and submit a final report based on the results of the inspections by 30 April.

The decision to extend its work was adopted following a city council session, during which the issue of school catering sparked lively debate.

In particular, a report on the implementation for 2025 of the Programme for the Reform and Organisation of School Meals in General Secondary Education Institutions of the Pervomaisk City Territorial Community for 2024–2027’ was considered, but councillors did not support it.

Initially, it was proposed to withdraw the document from consideration; however, the Head of the Education Department, Svitlana Tkachuk, stated that the programme had been implemented 100%, whilst the indicators regarding the organisation of school meals stood at 70% due to the gradual increase in the number of children covered by the scheme.

Councillor Yevhen Notevskyi of the Hroisman’s Ukrainian Strategy party drew attention to possible shortcomings in the report. In response, Svitlana Tkachuk emphasised that all the data provided was accurate, and that repairs to the catering facilities were supported by documentation, notably via the Prozorro system.

«All tenders held for the canteens are in the Prozorro system. They can be monitored to see what the prices are. There was a contract for technical supervision for each of the canteens. All these documents are in Prozorro. Before writing such information, all of this can be checked,» emphasised Svitlana Tkachuk.

Svitlana Tkachuk also reported that canteens in educational establishments are gradually being modernised, and some of them have already been renovated. At the same time, two canteens — at Gymnasium №4 and the Erudyt establishment — remain on the list for future renovations.

During the session, the issue of councillors’ inquiries was also raised. According to Svitlana Tkachuk, councillor Yevhen Notevskyi had sent 10 inquiries requiring a significant amount of time to process.

In response, Deputy Yevhen Notevskyi emphasised that he has a legal right to submit appeals and receive replies to them within the established timeframes.

Councillor Ruslan Sliusar of the Servant of the People party sided with the education department. He described such activity with requests as “bullying”.

Mayor Oleh Demchenko responded to the remark about mobbing.

«Ruslan Petrovych, I invite you to head the committee and analyse how many councillors’ inquiries are sent to various law enforcement agencies alleging that the mayor is spying, eavesdropping or peeking. Every single day. But not a single one has been confirmed. Dozens from your faction (Servant of the People, — note) are sent to me every day. I will collect them at the next session and show you,» the mayor noted.

Separately, the issue of water quality in educational establishments was raised at the meeting. Representatives of the commission responsible for inspecting catering facilities reported concerns regarding the condition of water in certain nurseries, particularly regarding its storage in open containers. At the same time, they proposed the installation of additional filtration systems.

«The water quality, from what we saw, particularly in nurseries, is stagnant in old boilers. You could write on the surface of those tanks with your finger. All members of the commission will confirm that this is what we saw. It was proposed at the commission meeting to install running water filters in every nursery. We were told that there is a certificate from the water utility stating that the water meets standards. But visually, the water does not meet standards,» noted one of the commission representatives.

In response, Deputy Mayor Dmytro Malyshevskyi noted that reverse osmosis systems have already been installed in nine establishments, but work in this area should be carried out by the education department and the heads of the establishments.

«We need to work on this issue. Water from these systems could be distributed to schools, but we need to work on this,» said Dmytro Malyshevskyi.

The commission responsible for inspecting canteens and catering arrangements continues its work. To date, 17 out of 35 educational establishments in the community have been inspected.

It was previously reported that in Pervomaisk’s educational establishments, some generators remain unconnected due to a lack of funds for project documentation and technical connection.

It should be recalled that NikVesti reported on numerous complaints from parents and teachers regarding learning conditions in Pervomaisk. There were widespread posts on social media about low temperatures in classrooms and nurseries — in some places it drops to +6…+11°C, children are studying in their outerwear, and lessons have been shortened to 30 minutes. It was also reported that generators are present in the establishments but are either not working or not connected.