Cost factor

While school canteens maintain they need to cover their costs, they are under constant pressure to lower prices from parents and students who are considered a “captive market” as they cannot go out of the school for their meals.

“I would prefer it if the canteen reduced the prices of what they offer,” said Mohammed Hossem, a Grade 11 student at the same school.

At public schools, the meal prices are fixed by the government at Dh5. They include a main dish with a healthy drink. But in a private school, the average meal could cost between Dh12-Dh15. The price could even go up to Dh25 in a premium school, for a soup, main course, drink and dessert.

Al Hammadi said: “It is a challenge to balance quality of food against price expectations. We operate for only 160 days in a year, but have fixed costs all year through. We have to pay rent to some schools to use their space. A few even take commissions, sometimes up to 20 per cent of our sales.”

He added: “Around 40 to 80 per cent of students eat in canteens every day, depending on the size of the facility, the type of leadership and extent of support.”

Not all school managements have the same views when it comes to canteen food.

At Taaleem, Clive Pierrepont said, “We encourage our students and parents to use our in-house catering arrangements, as many studies have pointed to the unsafe temperatures that snack boxes transported from home can reach. Unrefrigerated food brought into schools can be a cause of stomach upsets as bacteria will grow rapidly on perishables in the relatively high temperatures in UAE.”

The Indian High School management sees things differently. CEO Dr Ashok Kumar said: “We advise parents and students to eat healthy homecooked food whenever and wherever possible. The canteen should not be a choice over home-cooked meals.”

Mohammad Raiyan Sajid