Time can only make things “almost perfect”. Despite having monitored school kitchens for the past 9 years, we are continuously learning and improving the monitoring techniques, that will eventually transform school kitchens in efficient and clean cooking environments.
Our “Kitchen Training Assessment” is performed at least 6 times per year, preferably every other month, in each participating school under our Project Activity. This assessment confirms whether the cooks are following the “Kitchen Training Manual” which helps them effectively operate their institutional improved cook stoves (IICS) and achieve the highest hygiene standards in the kitchen.
Twelve indicators are collected, to confirm whether the requirements are achieved, or whether further action is needed to change old habits. These include the size of the firewood used, the capacity of the saucepan filled, the usage of a saucepan cover, the cleaning of soot and ash, the firewood storage, the condition of saucepans to ensure no leakages are taking place. We have now included the method used for serving food, as this can have a decisive impact in the long term durability of the IICS. We ave learned that schools that use buckets to remove the food and thereafter serve individually on each plate, have a positive impact on delaying potential metal corrosion of the IICS top ring.
We have also included an indicator that notes whether a cook has been replaced, to ensure dedicated training is implemented by Simoshi’s Project Officers and more time is spent with the new kitchen staff.
