I refer to the Forum letter by Ms Lai Wai Mun (Good to have students interacting with canteen stallholders, May 1) and wish to contribute to the ongoing discussion arising from the shortage of school canteen operators (Pre-packed meals, dispensers: Canteen vendor shortage drives S’pore schools to serve up alternatives, April 27).

My daughter is in Primary 3 in a school in the west coast. The school faces the same issue of a canteen operator shortage. Out of eight stalls in the canteen, only up to six stalls are operating.

My daughter tells me often that the stalls selling staples like rice and noodles attract long queues, and she does not get enough time to finish her food within her recess break of 25 to 30 minutes.

Those dismissed late for recess or school prefects assigned recess duties have less time to eat. As a result, pupils sometimes skip recess meals altogether or bring their lunch boxes from home.

I have often seen delivery riders delivering food to my daughter’s school. The school has even placed tables near the gate for them to drop off the food items.

The fact that there is demand for such services shows that staff and pupils are underserved by the options offered by the school canteen. I also wonder how many stalls remain open to serve pupils who have after-class co-curricular activities.

Parents have highlighted these issues during parent-teacher meetings and understand the school is exploring ways to tackle this issue. Notices have been put up at the school gates and on social media to try to recruit canteen operators. I am not too optimistic about their effectiveness in the current climate of rising costs and manpower shortages.

While Ms Lai has raised good points such as the amount of waste arising from using disposables for pre-packed meals, we should be pragmatic and explore solutions that will help alleviate the problems at hand.

I think having the option of pre-packed meals is a good idea worth exploring. No child should be hungry in school for reasons beyond his control.

Ben Tan