The Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has assured the citizens of Ghana that the government has allocated sufficient financial resources to ensure an adequate food supply for students enrolled in senior high schools nationwide under the Free Senior High School programme.
The Minister stated that the government has conducted a review of the Free SHS policy’s implementation and has pinpointed significant challenges that hinder the effective operation of the programme, especially concerning food supply and student feeding.
He elaborated that measures have been established to tackle these issues, thereby ensuring that academic activities in secondary schools proceed without interruption.
Haruna Iddrisu provided this assurance during the inauguration of the National Teaching Council’s regional office complex in Tamale, where he reaffirmed the government’s dedication to maintaining and enhancing this flagship educational initiative.
While addressing the audience, the minister recognized that food shortages had previously posed serious challenges for certain schools participating in the Free SHS programme, resulting in disruptions to academic schedules and necessitating students to return home before the end of the school term.
Nevertheless, he emphasized that the government has now secured sufficient resources to avert the recurrence of such circumstances.
Upon reviewing the feeding arrangements for Free Senior High School students, we discovered that there were numerous instances where schools had to close or, during the academic year, students were compelled to leave due to insufficient food. This is now a matter of the past.”
The Education Minister indicated that the government has enhanced the financial arrangements for the programme through the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), which he asserted would guarantee ongoing support for the policy.
“There are sufficient resources and adequate funding from GETFund to support the Free Senior High School initiative.”
