Parents at a kindergarten in Mykolaiv are being asked to contribute ₴500 for disposable tableware «in accordance with the requirements of the sanitary inspection»: the education department says it has not heard anything about this.

A kindergarten in Mykolaiv is raising money for disposable tableware, illustrative photo: Znaimo

In one of the kindergartens in Mykolaiv, parents are being asked to contribute 500 hryvnias each for disposable tableware to feed children in shelters during air raid alerts.

This was reported to the editorial office of NikVesti by the parents of the kindergarten pupils.

In particular, the message received by the parents states that the sanitary service is to visit the kindergarten and that, according to the «new food standards», children in the shelter must eat from disposable tableware.

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At the same time, Svitlana Makarova, deputy head of the Mykolaiv City Council's education department, told NikVesti that she knew nothing about this.

«I haven't heard anything about this. Let's find out exactly which kindergarten this is, because I have no information that parents are being asked to buy disposable tableware. Children have a set routine, including a meal routine,» said Svitlana Makarova.

She explained that during alarms, children go down to the shelter with the staff and eat as usual.

«No, the children go down to the shelter with the staff who serve them. They are small and cannot carry plates themselves. Everything is decided depending on the situation: most often, the children have time to eat, because air raid sirens do not always coincide with mealtimes. Therefore, I cannot say how exactly each kindergarten organises meals during an alarm. But all the children are fed properly and in accordance with sanitary standards. No one uses disposable tableware. So I don't know which nursery and who said this, these are just words. We need to know exactly which nursery so that we can figure out what happened in that nursery, why they are asking for disposable tableware. They are provided with all the necessary tableware, as it should be,» concluded Svitlana Makarova.

Meals in Mykolaiv kindergartens, archive photo: Mykolaiv City Council

As a reminder, due to the consequences of the energy emergency, the government has allowed the temporary suspension of in-person learning in educational institutions. According to the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, this applies to kindergartens, schools, vocational schools, colleges and higher education institutions. The format of work will depend on the security situation in a particular region.