Tórshavn postpones school meal scheme until next school year

Tórshavn Municipality has postponed its plan to provide school pupils with lunch until the next school year, KVF reports. The municipality has twice advertised for a kitchen manager for the scheme but has not yet made an appointment.

Heini Gaard, the municipality’s director of culture, said few people applied in the first round. More candidates applied in the second, but it became clear that several aspects of the job had not been explained clearly enough. These included overseeing the expansion of production kitchens at Kollafjarðar School and Eysturskúlin, arranging food deliveries, hiring cooks and assistants, and setting up a payment system.

The municipality has now revised the job description and will initially focus the role on running the pilot. Its culture department will handle deliveries, the payment system and expansion of the serving kitchen facilities.

A 2025 estimate puts the number of primary school pupils in Tórshavn Municipality at about 3,100. The pilot is expected to cover around 500 pupils at three schools: the lower grades at Eysturskúlin, the middle grades at Skúlin á Fløtum, and all pupils at Kollafjarðar School.

Meals will be prepared at Skúlin á Fløtum and transported to the other two schools. The municipality plans to advertise the kitchen manager position for a third time soon and expects to appoint someone around the turn of the year. It plans to launch the pilot next school year and evaluate it before deciding whether to extend the scheme to more schools or put it out to tender.