By: Evans Attah Akangla| ignewss| Ho
Educational Workers Connect (EWC), an educational policy think tank has thrown a challenge to the government of Ghana to find a lasting solution to the current food shortage issues in the country’s second circle schools.
In a press statement signed by their Executive Secretary, Mr. Daniel Yao Agbezudor, the policy Think Tank whose principal aim is advocating for quality education and other educational related issues charged government through the ministry should find these solutions as soon as possible.
EWC statement came after the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) in the Upper West region lamented over food shortage in the schools.
CHASS disclosed in a statement following an emergency meeting held at the Queen of Peace Senior High School (SHS) in Wa that, senior high schools in the Upper West region may soon be shut down if government fails to supply them with adequate foodstuff to feed students.
According to the press statement by the Policy Think Tank they believed the “unfortunate situation is making it practically impossible for the heads to continue feeding the students in the senior high schools in that part of the country.”
They also noted that, the situation as painted by CHASS is very dire and does not augur well for the sustenance and proper upkeep of students in the Secondary School in that region.
The statement further asserted and considered the situation unacceptable, risky and unfortunate looking at the continue denial by the government.
“Inasmuch as we do not find this precarious situation surprising even though government keeps denying the obvious, the Think Tank considers the current feeding challenges as unacceptable, risky, troubling and unfortunate” the statement stated.
EWC is also worried especially looking at the time the feeding challenges in the schools have reached its epic and becoming very severe when student are preparing to sit for their final West African Senior High School Examination in few weeks.
The statement also figured out that “the situation is obviously due to either shortage of foodstuffs, late arrival of the foodstuffs to the schools or considerable reduction in the quantity of the food served the students.
EWC however believed that, “due to the fear of intimidation, harassment, victimization and other forms of unjustifiable punishments that may be visited on the heads by Ghana Education Service (GES) and the government, the heads in those schools choose to remain quiet while the students suffer the consequences of the ineptitude of the officials who are supposed to ensure that the food gets to the schools on time and in their appropriate quantity.”
It observed that, Heads in many of these institutions have resorted to feeding the students with either the same meal for days, using their own meager resources to buy bread, sugar and oil for the students or cut down considerably, the quantity of meal provided for the students.
“The students are either not well fed, or starved. They are starved because some of these students refuse to take same meal for days. In some cases, the students are deprived of enjoying a balanced meal which may affect their well-being and ability to study well.” The statement further explained.
The Educational Workers Connect however called for proactive response from the government and Ghana Education Service on what they described as a terrible situation that demands an urgent approach.
“We therefore urge the government to get out of the self denial, the defensive posture and the act of intimidation of some of these heads, who are bold and coming out to state the facts as they exist in their schools”
SOURCE: www.ignewss.com