The Conference of Heads of Assisted Senior High Schools (CHASS) has urged parents to ensure that their children come to school with food, in light of the ongoing feeding difficulties faced in Senior High Schools (SHSs).
The Ghana Education Service (GES) previously dismissed a request from CHASS to reconsider the reopening of high schools, citing outstanding financial matters, including the government’s failure to pay for perishable food items supplied to students the previous year.
Just five days after the schools reopened, CHASS expressed concerns regarding the situation, indicating the potential for food rationing within the schools.
In an interview with Joy News on Wednesday, January 8, the National Secretary of CHASS, Primus Baro, encouraged parents to provide their children with food items to supplement the government’s efforts.
“I encourage parents, and I have already advised my PTA to this effect, to let their children bring food like gari, shito, and sugar to supplement whatever the school provides. I urge parents across the country, as the food situation has still not improved in the past two and three years, and it has worsened at this particular time.”
He depicted the conditions for schools in Northern Ghana as critical, as they are devoid of all essential resources for cooking.
“Food supplies are not reaching the schools. In places like the Upper West, Upper East, and Northern regions, apart from rice, the schools have no stable food supplies. Oil is completely unavailable. For example, in my school, I currently don’t have a single drop of oil, so my matron has been using margarine to replace oil for cooking. I don’t have maize or beans—only rice and some gari.”
“We are still relying on the old practices of sending students with what they have, and that’s the only reason we allowed the students to return. Otherwise, the situation is still far from ideal.”
The Free Senior High School (SHS) initiative, launched by the former Akufo-Addo administration, has faced numerous challenges.
In line with his campaign pledges, the newly elected President, John Dramani Mahama, has committed to reassessing the policy.
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