According to the Ghana Education Service, investigations into allegations of food shortages in certain Senior High Schools throughout the nation have started.
There have been complaints of food shortages, especially of non-perishable goods provided by the National Food Buffer Stock Company and perishable foods purchased by schools using state money.
On Tuesday, August 30, 2021, the General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Thomas Musah, complained in an interview about agitations from his union over the matter.
Messages from students and parents on Tuesday, August 31, 2021, also indicated that certain schools’ dining hall meals were inadequate.
Attempts made to directly engage headteachers and schools to unravel the state of things have been futile since they are often unwilling to talk to the media or grant access inside the schools owing to GES regulations or, in certain cases, fear of intimidation by authorities.
In response, the Ministry of Education’s Public Relations Officer, Kwasi Kwarteng, said that the Ministry’s investigations showed that there is no such scenario in the various schools.
However, several parents have claimed that their stories were accurate.
Prof. Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, Director-General of GES, also maintained in an interview that GES had not received any complaints about food shortages from any of the schools.
“As far as our records go, there is nothing like that. We have officially not received complaints from any of the schools over the issue. We have heard the issues that people are raising. As for the quality of food, it’s something that we can have a discussion on. But with the shortage of food, our checks indicate otherwise.”
He said that his outfit has instructed its Regional Directors to contact the different SHSs and create a list of schools that may be suffering from food shortages.
“I assure parents and the general public that we will ensure that these issues are being looked into and will be addressed if found to be true. This is a critical period as it is an examination period and we want to see to it that everything is in order,” he added.
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