21/10/2005

Dear Reza,

As a concerned parent I think it is getting worse and worse in the European Schools.

My daughter is a primary school student (5^th grade) and has tried the canteen food for one year. The results were the following;

1. Her health deteriorated significantly in comparison with the other years where she had sandwiches etc prepared at home. She’s never been sick as often as in that year.
2. Her appetite for the canteen food was so low she practically begged to be allowed taking sandwiches to school instead of having to eat the garbage that was provided in the canteen (her own words).

Now we’ve been ordered by Mr Feix to pay €15,- as a contribution for the cleaning costs of the canteen or my daughter will be refused access to the canteen. As the canteen is the sole place in the European school where children are allowed to eat this means that she is no longer allowed to eat!

In my opinion this decision has no merit what so ever for a number of reasons;

1. The reason for the original cut in the canteen budget was not based on any reason attributable to the parents, but appears to be a result of mismanagement of the School and its Board of Governors.
2. The Canteen is a part of the school buildings and as such the cleaning costs should be covered from the school cleaning budget. Today we are asked to pay for the cleaning of the canteen, tomorrow it’ll be the playground, the gym class, the teacher’s room etc…. There’s no end to this if we agree now.
3. We receive requests throughout the year for relatively small amounts which add up to a generous additional contribution (>€200,- besides the cost for books and other materials that are already provided by the parents). No one has ever been allowed to see the books on how these amounts where spend and whether they’ve been actually used for the suggested objects or services. This is all done on the basis of trust. A basis which is growing very thin very fast.
4. This idea bypasses every aspect of consideration for normal school life or even the obligation of the school to provide for a healthy and educational school environment to its pupils. As the time available for lunch in the time-schedule is based on the children eating at school, and I see my self forced to take my daughter home during lunch hours, as a result she will be forced to miss classes.

Maybe the cheapest solution will be to have the children eating in the waste collection area as this doesn’t need cleaning and considering the quality of the food provided by the school this would also save the costs of preparation!

Kind regards

Concerned parent

"There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it."

Edith Wharton, Vesalius in Zante
US novelist (1862 - 1937)