Hanoi Plans Bigger Lunch Subsidy For Primary School Kids
Hanoi proposes raising school lunch subsidies to 40,000 VND daily and expanding coverage for primary students, with a budget of over 3,643 billion VND for 2026-2027.
AC Team
Imagine sending your child to school and not worrying about whether they will get a proper lunch. That is exactly what Hanoi city is trying to make happen for thousands of families starting the 2026-2027 school year.
The Hanoi People's Council is set to review a new proposal this July that would raise the daily lunch subsidy for primary school students to 40,000 VND. This is a solid jump from the current support level, and it comes with a wider net of students who can benefit from it.
Who Gets What
The plan splits students into two groups. Priority students, those who need the most support, will get the full 40,000 VND per day covered by the state. No extra payment needed from their families.
Other students will receive 28,000 VND per day from the city. That covers about 70% of the minimum meal cost. Parents will need to pay the remaining 12,000 VND to make up the full amount. And if a school and parents decide to spend more on meals, that extra cost falls on the parents too.
It sounds like basic math, but the impact is huge. Good nutrition during school hours helps kids focus better, feel better, and grow better. A well fed student is simply a happier student, and any parent will tell you that a cranky, hungry kid is nobody's favourite person to deal with by 2 pm.
The Numbers Behind The Plan
Hanoi expects around 747,890 primary school students in the 2026-2027 school year. Out of these, about 650,964 students, which is roughly 87% of the total, will take part in boarding school meal programs. That is a jump of more than 3% compared to the previous year.
Around 14,692 students fall into the priority group and will receive support worth over 116.36 billion VND. The remaining 636,272 students will get the 28,000 VND daily rate, adding up to about 3,527.49 billion VND.
Add it all together, and the total budget for the school lunch subsidy in 2026-2027 comes to roughly 3,643.85 billion VND. That is about 1,116.26 billion VND more than what the city currently spends under its existing resolution.
Where does this extra money go? About 57.46 billion VND covers the wider group of priority students and their raised subsidy amount. The rest, close to 1,058.8 billion VND, goes toward raising the subsidy for the general student group from 20,000 VND to 28,000 VND.
How The Money Will Flow
The subsidy will kick in based on how many days a student actually uses the boarding meal service, capped at 9 months in a school year. Funds will come from the state budget and go directly to schools for organising meals. Payments will follow actual student numbers and the actual meals served, staying in line with state budget laws.
There is also a simple rule to avoid double spending. If a student qualifies for more than one support program covering the same need, they will only receive the highest level of support, not a combination of both.
Looking Further Ahead
Hanoi's planners have also looked beyond just one school year. Between 2026 and 2031, the number of students joining boarding meal programs is expected to grow by 1-3% each year. At the same time, the overall number of primary school students is expected to drop by 4,000 to 8,000 each year.
These two trends roughly balance each other out, so the city does not expect the yearly budget to swing wildly. Over the full five year stretch from 2026 to 2031, the total cost of this policy is estimated at around 18,000 billion VND, working out to about 3,600 billion VND per school year on average.
Why This Matters
A lunch subsidy might not sound like headline news, but for thousands of families, it means one less thing to worry about every morning. It also shows how city budgets can be adjusted to match real needs on the ground, rather than sticking to old numbers that no longer fit rising costs.
For now, the proposal is still up for review, but the direction is clear. Hanoi wants more kids covered, and it wants the support to actually match what a decent meal costs today.
