BEIJING -- China's Ministry of Education on Monday said it will establish a long-term mechanism to ensure food safety for students and teachers in middle and primary schools, as well as kindergartens.

There are 515,000 middle and primary schools and kindergartens in China, the ministry said, noting that 417,000 of them have introduced a regulation asking school officials to accompany students during each school meal.

The ministry added that 398,000 of the schools and kindergartens have set up parent committees to supervise food safety and 340,000 of them have made public their canteens' cooking process.

The ministry will also strengthen training for managerial personnel to improve their supervision on food safety.