Hunger Bites Hard …As Food Shortage Hits Mfantsipim, Adisco, Others

Troubles in the educational sector appear not to be going away anytime soon, after some caterers of the School Feeding Programme went on strike due to non-payment of moneys owed them, months ago.

The latest is that, some Senior High Schools (SHSs) across the country have also been hit with food shortage after some four teacher unions, laid down their tools pending payment of their Cost-of-Living Allowance (COLA).

This paper’s information has it that, not less than five regions have been affected as the schools have allegedly reached their wit’s end.

Most affected regions are Greater Accra, Central, Ashanti, Upper East and Volta.

Popular schools in the Central Region, such as, Mfantsipim, St Augustine’s College, Adisadel, Ghana National College, as well as, others in Kumasi, Accra, Bolgatanga and Ho have all been affected.

Meanwhile, the Upper West regional chapter of the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) has warned that students and parents may soon be compelled to take up the cost of feeding, if government fails to provide supplies in six days.

In a letter to the Regional Director of the Ghana Education Service, CHASS noted that the food suppliers contacted by the Buffer Stock Company, as well as local suppliers contacted to help out, are all refusing to do so, citing non-payment of outstanding monies owed them by the government.

This they say has exacerbated an already dire situation in schools in the region, with some schools not having enough supplies to last a week.

“In fact, an assessment of the situation indicated that most schools cannot go beyond one week, if nothing urgent is done about it,” the statement said.

Foods in short supply include maize, rice, sugar, palm oil and other oils, soya beans, sardine and mackerels, and Tombrown.

They also bemoaned the manner in which monies meant to run the school trickle in.

CHASS has thus, resolved that all schools will feed students with only what is available in the schools’ food stores and students will be asked to bring their own sugar and other items to the dining hall.

“If sufficient money and food is not received in the schools by Friday, 15th July, 2022, we will be compelled to tell parents and guardians to either feed their wards or come for them since it will be impossible to continue feeding them with nothing,” CHASS said.

But the Ministry of Education has stepped in, giving a firm assurance that schools that are reporting of food shortages should expect “full” supplies by today, Tuesday, July 12.

It follows a meeting between the sector minister, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, and the leadership of CHASS over the weekend.

The meeting between Dr Adutwum and leadership of CHASS was as a result of the Conference’s statement warning parents may have to come in to support their children in the wake of the shortage.

“The issue has been resolved and all affected schools are expected to receive full supplies latest by Tuesday 12th July, 2022,” a brief statement signed by the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Ministry, Kwesi Kwarteng, said.

Already, some parents have raised concerns about the quality of food served to their wards in the schools.

Chairman of Mfantsipim School’s Parents Teacher Association (PTA), Mr Kwarteng, in an SOS audio message to parents described the situation as terrible.

He said the students are given porridge without milk, sugar, and bread.

He was heard in the audio saying “Dear parents, these are our boys, and as a parents association, we have less than GH¢1,000 in our coffers. What can this do?”

A student of Mfantsipim School said: “The porridge is too light and without bread and so in the morning I don’t go to the dining hall.”

Another student said: “Sometimes the quantity is small.”

Headmaster of the prominent school Rev. Ebener Aidoo, said the food situation was dire, but the school was working around the clock to address the situation.

The situation is no different in another sister school St Augustine’s College where the headmaster Henry Arthur-Gyan, also said the school has no option but to manage the situation.

“We know there are challenges and so we manage with what we are provided. There is not much we can do about it,” he stated.

On the part of Ashanti Regional Chairman of the conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS), Rev. Fr Stephen Owusu Sekyere, most schools in the region were facing an inadequate supply of food items, with the major challenge being vegetables, palm oil, sugar and flour.

Rev. Fr Sekyere, who doubles as the Headmaster of the Opoku Ware School (OWASS), said at times “students come to the dining hall with their own sugar. But we have been managing with the little we have and when it gets finished, we wait for the supplier.”

“Because I don’t want the students to demonstrate during my tenure, at times I have to dig into my pocket to buy some of the items from the open market just to ensure that the students are okay,” he said.

He said at times when the supply came, “we get about five gallons of oil, which do not last two weeks for a student population of over 3,000.”

“This is even for schools in the metropolis; you can imagine what those in the hinterlands are going through,” he added.

Source: theanchorghana