Government to Hold Emergency Meeting with CHASS Over School Food Shortages
Accra, Ghana - 13 Jan, 2025 - Ghana's government is set to convene an emergency meeting today, Monday, January 13, to tackle the pressing issue of food shortages in some Senior High Schools.
This move comes after the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) urged parents to provide food supplies for their wards due to difficulties in securing adequate provisions.
According to Clement Apaak, Member of Parliament for Builsa South, the government has acknowledged the feeding challenges faced by senior high schools and is working to devise solutions. Apaak revealed in an interview on Citi News, that the Chief of Staff will meet with the national leadership of CHASS to discuss the feeding challenges and work with the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service to find a solution as soon as possible.
“I can confirm that the matter to do with food challenges for our wards in secondary schools has come to the attention of the government and in particular, the Chief of Staff. Whilst it is true that the current situation is a leftover from the badly managed processes that we have inherited from the previous Akufo-Addo-Bawumia-led NPP government, we are doing our best to try and address the challenge,'' he stated.
“We can tell you that the government is not resting on this issue. The John Dramani Mahama-led government is determined to sustain and improve the free senior high school programme. To that effect, the Chief of Staff is going to meet the national leadership of the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools to further deliberate on the feeding challenges as we also work with the ministry and the Ghana Education Service to find a solution as soon as possible,'' he added.
The food shortages have raised concerns about the sustainability of the Free Senior High School program, which has been a flagship initiative of the government. The program aims to provide free secondary education to all Ghanaian students, but feeding challenges have posed a significant threat to its success.
It's worth noting that the Ministry of Education had previously denied reports of food shortages in Senior High Schools, stating that adequate supplies of food items had been made to the schools.
However, the current situation suggests that the shortages are real and require immediate attention.
Source: Lead News Online
