Some Senior High Schools (SHSs) across the country have been hit with food shortages again which if not attended to, head teachers of the schools say the situation is likely to affect the health of the students in the affected schools.
Majority of such schools are mostly found in the Eastern, Ashanti, Northern, and Volta regions.
A head teacher who spoke to Citi FM said because the school is short of fruit and protein, his children aren’t getting the proper nutrition.
“Free uniforms should be cancelled, free church service attire, breakfast and supper should be taken care of by parents, not the government. And we keep on drumming this, and I don’t understand this, because parents are capable of taking care of their children”.
“This thing has gone beyond politics. We are talking about Ghana, as we speak, we don’t have a single tin of sardine in my school. I don’t remember the last time we gave them eggs and fruits” he said.
Meanwhile the Education Ministry says enough foodstuff has been sent to the various Senior High Schools (SHSs) across the country.
Head of Public Affairs at the Education Ministry, Kwesi Kwarteng said truckloads of food have been deployed to schools.
“We are loading the trucks with foodstuff and make sure that they deliver to the schools. So in terms of food supply in the various schools, indeed some have reached the schools already. Largely, a lot of the schools have adequate supplies, but we are making sure that arrangements are made for other commodities for which they need supplies. These arrangements are also happening in other districts and regions. I can confirm that we are making efforts to get our kids fed” he said.
The Free SHS policy is a government initiative introduced in September 2017 by the Nana Akufo-Addo government to provide free education for senior high school students.
Several calls by civil society organisations and watchers of the education space for the review of the policy have been rejected by the government despite glaring challenges plaguing the programme.
