The Conference of Heads of Assisted Senior High Schools (CHASS) is admonishing parents and guardians to provide their wards with food as they return to school.
This comes as a result of the previous government’s failure to honour its financial commitments to the senior high schools which CHASS has earlier raised concerns about.
The Conference had earlier advised the Ghana Education Service (GES) to postpone the January 03, 2025 reopening date for the schools due to the lack of funds to run the schools as a result of the debts.
But the GES rejected the appeal and reopened the schools on the set date.
READ ALSO: CHASS wants Jan. 3 schools reopening delayed until arrears are cleared
But five days into reopening of schools, CHASS is complaining of challenges with food supply indicating some schools have to ration food as a result of the dire situation.
It has therefore urged parents and guardians to support their children with food items to supplement the little the government has provided for them.
“I encourage parents, and I have already advised my PTA to this effect, to let their children bring food like gari, shitor, 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,” National Secretary of CHASS, Primus Baro, said on JoyNews Wednesday, January 08, 2025.
He disclosed that schools in northern Ghana have become the highest hit with the challenge.
“Food supplies are not reaching the schools. In places like Upper West, Upper East, and the 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,” he added.
Mr. Baro said they had to rely “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) policy implemented by the previous Akufo-Addo-led administration, has faced numerous challenges over the years, including insufficient classroom and dormitory facilities, inadequate food, and more.
Many have critiqued that the policy, although, has increased enrollment, failed to provide quality education since the introduction of the programme. But John Dramani Mahama has assured of a review of the policy by stakeholders to ameliorate the challenges that come with it.
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