Bandar Seri Begawan - Regular inspections to canteens are a must to ensure that children's health and safety are preserved while they are at school, said the Head of the Ministry of Education's (MoE) Canteen Unit.

"If they are not monitored, then they might disregard the rules. So we must monitor them constantly," Hj Mohd Noorasri Kamarulzaman said.

Speaking to The Brunei Times at the recent launch of the Ministry of Health's new guidebook on approved food and drinks for school canteens, Hj Mohd Noorasri said that the unit regularly inspects school canteens, either according to a pm-determined schedule or on acting on a complaint, most of which come from students or teachers of the school.

The head of Canteen Unit explained that the vendors, who are usually from the private sector, had to adhere to the food safety regulations stipulated under a formal agreement signed between the vendor and the school. These rules were based on existing guidelines provided by the Ministry of Health.

Hj Mohd Noorasri said that if a canteen is found to have violated this agreement, then a verbal warning would be issued first. A repeat offence warrants a warning letter of closure to the vendor. "If they do it a third time and don't comply after the warnings, then we will have to shut them down," he said.

An officer from the Department of Schools said that they were very serious about monitoring the food and drinks consumed by students at school canteens.

Meanwhile, the MoE Private Education Section's officer, Hj Faiezal Hj Zainal said that before the launch of the guidelines on allowed canteen food and drinks, his department had been conducting spot checks every three months at all private schools in Brunei.

"I have been working in this department for two years now, and we have been doing these spot checks regularly. Although we trust school principals to make sure of the safety and hygiene of the food and drinks sold at schools, there have been cases where our department has issued warnings to canteen owners," he said, adding that after issuing a warning letter, monthly spot checks were done to ensure canteens complied with regulations.
Hj Faiezal said that schools and canteen owners were responsible for the student's safety and health, particularly when it came to the type of food served at school. "School principals and canteen owners must know the regulations. After we issue a warning, we will take action and ask the principal to change the canteen owner if their habits have not changed," he said.

However, he also said that parents have a role to play in ensuring that their children were eating healthily. "Parents are also responsible for what their children eat. The children may be eating unhealthily at home and at restaurants, so eating habits need to change from home as well," he said.

Sharifah Hartina Hj Wan from Lambak Kanan Religious Secondary School, shared the same sentiments. "It is good that the Ministry of Health has issued these guidelines and have given us the pamphlets, but I think they should also educate parents and the public by giving talks," she said.

With the launching of the guidelines, she also said that it would help if teachers were more concerned about the food sold in school canteens. "So far, we have had no cases of food poisoning at our school because we monitor our canteens closely, such as making sure that the premises is clean and that there is a standard for food packaging. However, these guidelines will help make teachers more concerned and to make sure that the guidelines are met at school she said.-- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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