The start of the school year in Asturias begins with good news. The Principality has approved a decree to establish a unified public price of 4.5 euros for the daily menu of school canteens under the Ministry of National Education from the first day of classes.
With this measure we seek end tariff diversity and an affordable system is being put in place for all schoolchildren without the right to free meals, as reported by the Asturian government.
The education system currently serves a total of 98 soup kitchens, attended by nearly 10,500 children. Nearly half of these students receive free meals when they also use school transportThe other half, some 5,400 students, will now benefit from this uniform rate.
The government will contribute an additional 1.5 million to cover the cost of the new course.. Contributing students will pay the one-time fee and the department will cover the remaining amount until the actual cost of the service is completed, as announced at the end of April.
Families will formalize the obligation to pay this fee of 4.5 euros, which also includes supervision, at the time of registration to benefit from the catering service. Amounts will be accumulated at the end of each month and payments will be made to the secretariat of the educational centers.
The dining room will be expanded until June and September
For his part, Students entitled to school transport will continue to benefit from the free catering serviceas contained in the resolution of May 2021, of the Ministries of Education and Rural Environment and Territorial Cohesion, which regulates the provision of transport services for students in public centers.
The unified rate will serve to avoid situations like the one that occurred in the last quarter of last year, after the bankruptcy of a company.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Education has committed to expanding, from the academic year 2025-2026school canteen service in June and September. This is another measure that is highly requested by families.
