ER: Senior High Schools to be shut down by July 15 if food shortage persists – CHASS
Food Shortages leads Eastern Region CHASS to consider closure of schools
The acute food shortage in some schools has led the Eastern Region Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) to now consider the closure of schools in the region.
In a statement, CHASS revealed that there has been food shortages for the past two years, as well as struggles with the reduced weight of food items supplied.
“Suppliers of food items for some time now have been supplying underweight items to the schools. An example is 100 kg of Maize has been reduced to 50 kg or 60 kg,” the group noted in a statement.
It also bemoaned arrears in schools because of the erratic release of funds meant for perishable foods.
“Since 2021, funds meant for recurrent [expenses], have been released once. By extension, recurrent funds are in arrears since 2021 and 6 months into 2022,” the group explained.
Because of these challenges, the group is considering the closure of schools if nothing changes by July 15.
It is also considered recommended that parents “either feed their wards or pick them home until all the situations are normalised.”
The Education Ministry gave assurances that by July 12, the challenges would have been addressed.
Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, the sector minister, met with the leadership of CHASS this past Sunday.
But schools are still complaining about the shortages despite the commitment made by the government.
Due to these challenges, an adhoc committee is currently in place at Ghana’s legislature to investigate the activities of the National Food Buffer Stock Company and the National School Feeding program.
The responsibility of the committee among others is to look into the feasibility and sustainability of the organisations, especially in recent times when there are reports of food shortage in Senior High Schools and the demand from school feeding caterers for an increment in the cost of feeding students.
