School lunches improve

With the start of the school term in September, Beijing is making modifications to the management of the daily box lunches offered to primary and secondary school students. Decision-making authority for catering matters is being transferred from municipal to district and county levels, the Beijing Youth Daily reported.

An official from the city's education commission said a working group has been established to publish the menus weekly and the finances on a regular basis. According to a survey of 157 students from secondary schools in Haidian, Dongcheng, Xicheng and Chaoyang districts, 70 percent said potatoes and Chinese cabbage dominate the meals served in the school canteen; one-third said the delivered box meals were tasteless.