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State funding is an effective fix to revive the school milk programme that has seen stagnant growth recently, says a signed article in China Business Times. An excerpt follows:

More than half the 48 qualified suppliers for the national school milk programme have stopped or suspended their service. Reports show that only 1 per cent of the country's 240 million students in primary and high schools now drink milk at school everyday.

The school milk programme, which started in August 2000, was meant to be a key step improving youngsters' nutrition and boosting the nation's health situation.

How come the programme has seen a bottleneck in its development at this moment?

The school milk programme not only benefits the students and milk suppliers, but also the nation as a whole. Therefore, it is a public welfare initiative.

When the programme was launched, the government did not offer any subsidy or other financial aid. Instead, it simply ordered the suppliers to limit their profits and keep the milk price 30 percent lower than the market price. The suppliers could not even change this price.

When the milk suppliers could barely cover their costs, it was a reasonable choice for them to quit the business. After all, they have to survive in the market.

But as more and more suppliers leave, the programme is in danger of soon being dropped completely.

Therefore, the only way to revive the school milk programme is State funding. With strict management and efficient means to channel the State capital, the programme could be carried on.

As a matter of fact, Japan, Finland and several other countries that successfully promoted their school milk programmes have all done this through a legislative framework and offered State subsidies to cover all or part of the expenses of the programme.

The school milk programme would have long-term benefits for the nation's future.

Given the limited resources in the State coffer, authorities should put their preference on subsidies for the programme in medium and small-sized cities and rural areas. After all, the cost of a cup of milk is nothing for most families in big cities.

In less developed areas, the government could offer subsidies to cover all school milk or the milk for a certain group of students. It could boost the public welfare more efficiently while bridging the differences between rural and urban areas in milk consumption.

(China Daily September 20, 2006)