Message is if u dun have some social standing, u better not apply for your kids to be admitted to these schs.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>School canteens go upmarket
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Students tuck into food like ice-blended drinks, pizza, lasagne and Japanese dishes </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Amelia Tan
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</TD><TD width=10>
</TD><TD vAlign=bottom>
Students at ACS (Independent) can order macaroni and cheese - among other pasta and pizza dishes - at a canteen stall which is part of the Sfigato Pizza chain. -- ST PHOTO: SAMUEL HE
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->FOOD sold in the school canteen is starting to look like the fare served in restaurants.
Lasagne, pancakes, pizza, Thai and Japanese food are some of what children are tucking into in schools these days.
Cafes serving ice-blended drinks and sandwiches like those sold by coffee chain Starbucks have also sprouted in schools such as Hwa Chong Institution (HCI) and Anderson Junior College.
Students at Raffles Junior College also have a wide variety of snacks from the 7-Eleven store in their school; next month, the sandwich chain Subway will open there too.
Providing quality food and service in the canteen is increasingly a priority for school administrators in the face of students' demand for a wider range of cuisine.
HCI spokesman and teacher Tan Mei Leng said changing expectations of school food come from Singaporean children's exposure to a wide variety of food from an early age.
Students from Anglo-Chinese (Independent) School and HCI surveyed in the last five years indicated that they would like pizza, prata, and Japanese and Thai food in their school canteens.
Their requests have been granted.
ACS (Independent) teacher and canteen committee member Lydia Ho said the school decided to answer the calls to widen its tuckshop offerings as it wanted 'the best for the students'. This means providing food comparable to, or better than, what eateries outside the school sell, which are more expensive and probably unhealthy as well, she said.
Tuckshops in secondary schools and junior colleges generally provide meals for under $3.
Ng Li Ki, 15 and in Secondary 3 in HCI, said canteen vendors were being spurred to offer a wider variety of food to keep their student customers, who now have enough pocket money to go to food outlets near the school.
The other impetus for the tuckshops to cater to students' wants is that youth who stay back in school till after 6pm have as many as three meals there. And it would be nice not to have to eat the same thing day after day.
The demand for variety is so great that it has fuelled the set-up - and success - of food stalls supplementing the offerings at the canteens.
Students from Jurong Junior College's Entrepreneurial Club, for example, run two stalls selling ice cream, waffles and ice-cream floats, cookies and drinks.
JJC teacher and spokesman Chew Siang Jiun said that the stalls are profitable as 'they captured the needs of the market'.
Having healthy and delicious food in school is also a way for school administrators to instil good eating habits in their students.
Ms Ho of ACS (Independent) said: 'Many students like fast food because they think it tastes good. But as they eat in the school canteen, they will learn that healthy food can also taste good and will learn to like it.'
It looks like these efforts might be working.
Now, when Justin Mo, a 14-year-old student there, craves for an ice cream, it is not the sugar and fat-laden kind he wants.
He said: 'We can have frozen yogurt ice cream. It is a healthy treat, especially if we have it with fruit.'
[email protected] Read also: What schools do to get kids to eat right
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>School canteens go upmarket
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Students tuck into food like ice-blended drinks, pizza, lasagne and Japanese dishes </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Amelia Tan
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
Students at ACS (Independent) can order macaroni and cheese - among other pasta and pizza dishes - at a canteen stall which is part of the Sfigato Pizza chain. -- ST PHOTO: SAMUEL HE
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->FOOD sold in the school canteen is starting to look like the fare served in restaurants.
Lasagne, pancakes, pizza, Thai and Japanese food are some of what children are tucking into in schools these days.
Cafes serving ice-blended drinks and sandwiches like those sold by coffee chain Starbucks have also sprouted in schools such as Hwa Chong Institution (HCI) and Anderson Junior College.
Students at Raffles Junior College also have a wide variety of snacks from the 7-Eleven store in their school; next month, the sandwich chain Subway will open there too.
Providing quality food and service in the canteen is increasingly a priority for school administrators in the face of students' demand for a wider range of cuisine.
HCI spokesman and teacher Tan Mei Leng said changing expectations of school food come from Singaporean children's exposure to a wide variety of food from an early age.
Students from Anglo-Chinese (Independent) School and HCI surveyed in the last five years indicated that they would like pizza, prata, and Japanese and Thai food in their school canteens.
Their requests have been granted.
ACS (Independent) teacher and canteen committee member Lydia Ho said the school decided to answer the calls to widen its tuckshop offerings as it wanted 'the best for the students'. This means providing food comparable to, or better than, what eateries outside the school sell, which are more expensive and probably unhealthy as well, she said.
Tuckshops in secondary schools and junior colleges generally provide meals for under $3.
Ng Li Ki, 15 and in Secondary 3 in HCI, said canteen vendors were being spurred to offer a wider variety of food to keep their student customers, who now have enough pocket money to go to food outlets near the school.
The other impetus for the tuckshops to cater to students' wants is that youth who stay back in school till after 6pm have as many as three meals there. And it would be nice not to have to eat the same thing day after day.
The demand for variety is so great that it has fuelled the set-up - and success - of food stalls supplementing the offerings at the canteens.
Students from Jurong Junior College's Entrepreneurial Club, for example, run two stalls selling ice cream, waffles and ice-cream floats, cookies and drinks.
JJC teacher and spokesman Chew Siang Jiun said that the stalls are profitable as 'they captured the needs of the market'.
Having healthy and delicious food in school is also a way for school administrators to instil good eating habits in their students.
Ms Ho of ACS (Independent) said: 'Many students like fast food because they think it tastes good. But as they eat in the school canteen, they will learn that healthy food can also taste good and will learn to like it.'
It looks like these efforts might be working.
Now, when Justin Mo, a 14-year-old student there, craves for an ice cream, it is not the sugar and fat-laden kind he wants.
He said: 'We can have frozen yogurt ice cream. It is a healthy treat, especially if we have it with fruit.'
[email protected] Read also: What schools do to get kids to eat right
