1.951 billion yuan of subsidies for nutritious meals for rural students were diverted to repay local debts and other expenditures

From 2011 to 2021, the central government has allocated a total of 196.734 billion yuan in subsidies for students' nutritious meals. In 2021, a total of 26.034 billion yuan of nutritional meal subsidies were arranged for students, an increase of 12.9% over the previous year

Text: "Caijing" reporter Zou Biying

Editor|Wang Yanchun

The audit report revealed that from 2021 to August 2023, 66 counties misappropriated 1.951 billion yuan of rural student nutritious meal subsidy funds to repay local debts and other expenditures. Some were squeezed out in disguise, with 41 counties and 1,533 schools occupying 270 million yuan in disguised form by lowering feeding standards and fictitious procurement business. Some were colluded to arbitrage, and the education departments of the five counties conspired with the winning suppliers to extract 42.1602 million yuan through supplier dividends, donations, etc., for the distribution of benefits.

On June 25, at the 10th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress, Hou Kai, Auditor General of the National Audit Administration, disclosed the above data in the "Audit Report of the State Council on the Implementation of the Central Budget and Other Financial Revenues and Expenditures in 2023" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report"). It is reported that auditing is called "economic physical examination" and is an important part of the supervision system of the party and the state.

The report published the audit of the special funds for the nutrition improvement plan for rural compulsory education students. The subsidy funds of 159 counties in 13 provinces from 2021 to August 2023 were 23.137 billion yuan, accounting for 91% of the total subsidy amount in the same period in the selected counties.

The report found three major problems: First, the management and use of some subsidy funds are relatively chaotic. Second, some feeding units operate in violation of regulations. 147 suppliers and some school canteens and other feeding units operated in violation of regulations, cutting corners and providing shoddy meals. Third, the bidding for meal procurement and the supervision of meal supply are not standardized and strict. In 25 counties, 52 suppliers were identified to provide meals to 2,605 schools by directly designating them in violation of regulations and setting unreasonable terms. 78 enterprises or individuals won the bid for 101 nutritious meal projects in 35 counties through illegal borrowing of qualifications, falsification of materials, bid-rigging and collusion. Regulatory power rent-seeking, the relevant regulatory departments and the staff of 77 schools are suspected of bending the law for personal gain in the process of feeding supervision and other processes.

It is reported that on October 26, 2011, an executive meeting of the State Council was held and it was decided to start the implementation of the nutrition improvement plan for rural compulsory education students from the autumn semester of 2011. The meeting emphasized that the subsidy funds are strictly used to provide food for students, and it is strictly forbidden to distribute them directly to students and parents, so as to prevent false claims and fraudulent claims. Fully disclose the accounts and catering standards of school canteens and student nutrition funds, and accept the supervision of students, parents and society.

At that time, malnutrition among students in rural China was still prominent. According to the Report on the Nutrition and Health of Chinese Children and Adolescents (2012) released by the China Student Nutrition and Health Promotion Association, in poor areas, rural students are generally "nutritionally poor", nearly half of the students are not guaranteed to eat three meals a day, 47.6% of rural students can only eat two meals a day, and 66.4% of them skip breakfast; In a month, one-third of the students did not eat meat, two-thirds of the students did not eat eggs, 80% of the students did not drink milk, 39% of the students did not eat beans, and 35% of the students only ate one vegetable per day, mainly potatoes, cabbage and radish, etc., most of them relied on their own pickles, chili sauce, and even salt bibimbap. According to the "Evaluation Report on the Nutrition Improvement Plan for Rural Compulsory Education Students", in the 10 years since the implementation of the nutrition improvement plan, the anemia rate of rural students in underdeveloped areas has decreased from 19.2% in 2012 to 9.6%, and the height of 15-year-old boys has increased from 155.8 cm in 2012 to 166.1 cm in 2020.

According to the executive meeting of the State Council on October 26, 2011, the Nutrition Improvement Program for Rural Compulsory Education Students was initially piloted in concentrated contiguous areas with special difficulties, and the central government provided nutritious dietary subsidies for rural compulsory education students in the pilot areas at the rate of 3 yuan per student per day. The pilot covers 680 counties (cities) and about 26 million students. According to preliminary estimates, the national pilot project needs more than 16 billion yuan per year, which will be borne by the central government. Since then, the subsidy standard has been continuously raised.

In 2021, the Ministry of Finance, together with the Ministry of Education, issued the Notice on the In-depth Implementation of the Nutrition Improvement Plan for Rural Compulsory Education Students, clarifying that from the autumn semester of 2021, the meal subsidy standard for rural compulsory education students will be increased from 4 yuan to 5 yuan per student per day. The "Notice" makes it clear that the funds required for the national pilot areas will continue to be fully borne by the central government; The funds required by the local pilot areas shall be borne by the local finance, and the central government will give a fixed amount of 4 yuan per student per day after the local implementation of the meal subsidy standard.

In October 2022, the Ministry of Education and other seven departments issued the "Implementation Measures for the Nutrition Improvement Plan for Rural Compulsory Education Students", pointing out that all localities can further improve the mechanism for the government, families and social forces to jointly bear the cost of meals in the implementation of the national basic standards in combination with the actual local economic and social development and the price level, and scientifically determine the charging standards for food expenses.

In practice, there are also cases where families pay a small amount for meals. In 2023, the General Office of the Guizhou Provincial Government issued the "Notice on Further Improving the Implementation Level of the Nutrition Improvement Plan for Rural Compulsory Education Students", pointing out that "5+X" meal provision will be implemented. According to the nutritional and health needs of students, the quality and standard of meals should be further improved, and families should pay a small amount of fees appropriately on the basis of the 5 yuan meal subsidy provided by the government per student per day. On the basis of giving full consideration to factors such as the per capita net income of local rural residents and the economic affordability of rural students' families, the county-level departments of education, development and reform shall scientifically and reasonably formulate the "X" standard in the "5+X" by holding symposiums, parents' meetings, and hearings, and submit them to the county-level people's government for approval and implementation, and resolutely put an end to excessive pricing.

It is reported that since the implementation of the nutrition improvement plan, rural students in underdeveloped areas have bid farewell to the campus life of carrying dry food to school and cooking on the street, and have changed the dilemma of eating only two meals a day. According to China Education Daily, from 2011 to 2021, the central government has arranged a total of 196.734 billion yuan in subsidies for students' nutritious meals. In 2021, a total of 26.034 billion yuan of nutritional meal subsidies were arranged for students, an increase of 12.9% over the previous year. By the end of 2020, 1,732 counties in 28 provinces had implemented nutrition improvement programs, covering 131,600 rural compulsory education schools and benefiting 37,978,300 students.