The Ministry of Education urged schoolmasters to eat together with the students to guarantee food safety in Chinese rural schools.

Nutritious meals should include meat, eggs and milk and more school dining halls should be built gradually to provide meals for students, according to guidelines launched by the Ministry of Education and 14 other ministries on June 15.

The ministry's "nutritious meal" project aims to improve nutrition in rural primary and middle schools.

Through the project, the central government provides the schools with a 3 yuan ($47 cents) daily subsidy per student - the money should be used to buy nutritious food for the children.

According to the regulations, the food must meet certain standards of food safety and nutrition requirements and should be fresh.