According to the City of Tartu's figures, a total of 360-400 kids currently eat breakfast porridge at its municipal schools. Not all schools offer breakfast porridge, and in some schools, it is already free. However, there are also schools where parents must pay €0.60-1.10 per serving.

At Raatuse School, breakfast porridge is priced at full cost. On Wednesday, just 11 of the school's nearly 600 students ate breakfast at school, reported ETV's "Aktuaalne kaamera."

"I can't tell if it's because of this [price]," said Ene Veski, director of school catering services provider Daily. "It could also be that eating habits have changed a bit, and maybe many parents aren't even interested in it; maybe their kids eat at home."

Students at Kivilinna School also currently pay full price for breakfast porridge, with only about 10 of the nearly 800 students regularly eating breakfast at school. When the school previously covered the cost, participation was four to five times higher.

"Right now, even the school cafeteria staff have been prepared to offer more, because they're a bit concerned as well that so few children are coming [to eat]," admitted Tartu Kivilinna School principal Karin Lukk. "Especially since they know the kids used to have this habit; it seems like now it's simply a matter of money."

This week, the City of Tartu decided that starting next year, breakfast porridge in municipal schools will cost €1.10 per serving, of which parents must pay just ten cents per serving. This means school breakfasts will run families a total of approximately €2 a month per child.

Janeli Meristo, a senior financing specialist at Tartu's Department of Education, explained that funding for school lunches comes from both the state budget and Agricultural Registers and Information Board (PRIA) organic food subsidies.

"This is targeted funding," Meristo noted. "It can only be used for students' [school meals], and since the money was sitting unused in the city budget, we looked for a good way to promote children's health while also using the budgetary resources as intended."

School administrators are confident that reducing the cost of breakfast porridge will lead to an increased number of students eating breakfast at school.

"We've had free porridge before, and back then, around 70 [kids] ate [at school] in the morning," recalled Tartu Raatuse School principal Toomas Kink. "As soon as it became paid, it was around 30-40; it was an immediate drop."

Lukk added that in many cases, the families who benefit the most from school breakfasts are those for whom providing hot food at home is more challenging or not possible for whatever reason.

"Two euros a month is definitely an amount that all families can manage," she said. "We believe this will make a difference."

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