The Acting Spokesperson to President Mahama, Felix Kwakye Ofosu has reaffirmed government’s resolve to expedite measures to address the current food shortage problem witnessed under the Free Senior High School (FSHS) programme.
Felix lamented what he described as poor policy implementation witnessed under the previous government, which he said has plunged the various secondary schools into the problems they face currently under the FSHS programme.
However, President John Dramani Mahama, upon assuming office, immediately ordered for funds summing up to GHC200 million to be released to the Ghana Education Service (GES) for the procurement of foodstuff for the schools, according to Felix.
“Beyond that GHS200 million was released about a week ago or a week and a half ago to address the shortfalls in feeding. Again, because of poor planning and poor implementation of the education policy, we had a situation where schools were going to be opened and yet there was no food available to feed the students.”
“So upon taking office, President Mahama took decisive action and within a few days, he ordered that food be evacuated to the schools. In addition to that, GHS200 million was released to the various schools through the Ghana Education Service to procure food for the students.”
“So for now, that has been done and going forward, adequate measures will be put in place to ensure that we have enough food to feed the students,” he said during an interview at Channel One Newsroom on January 2, 2025.
The Mahama administration is seeking to address some prevailing problems facing government senior high schools under the FSHS policy.
The policy which was introduced and implemented by the Akufo-Addo led government, faced several challenges and was heavily crticised by various experts. Some significant issues are food shortage, expired foods, infrastructure challenges and poor school reopening arrangements.
In an attempt to address the challenges and stage reforms in the education sector, the president has set up a committee called the National Education Forum.
The forum, which constitutes 8 members has been tasked to deliberate on policies and implementation strategies to address issues facing the education sector.
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