Gov’t urged to take action amid food shortage, quality concerns in SHSs

As concerns intensify about a shortage of food in Senior High Schools, the Ashanti Regional Students Representative Council (SRC) has called on the government and the National Food Buffer Stock Company to address the issue associated with the food shortage that many schools in the region are facing.

According to the Ashanti regional SRC, there has been a limited supply of various food commodities, which has compelled the students to feed on some particular food items for a very long time.

Speaking to Citi News, the Ashanti Regional SRC coordinator, Raphael Sarkodie, said “these delays and inconsistent supplies at times affect academic work.”

Concerns are also being raised about what the shortage means for the quality of food students will get.

The PTA Chairman of a Senior High School in the Central Region has, for example, raised alarm over the poor quality of food served students in the school.

The chairman is heard in an audio making a passionate appeal to parents to help salvage the situation, which he describes as terrible.

He narrated how the headmaster of the school was compelled to give money from his own pocket to help procure some essential food items to augment the meals of the students.

“Our boys are taking porridge without milk and without bread… the food they are eating is too horrible,” the chairman said.

He also noted that the kitchen even lacked enough oil for the food being cooked.

As a solution to some of these challenges, headmasters of various Senior High Schools are calling on government to resort to local food suppliers since the National Buffer Stock company can’t meet the demand of supplying food to the various schools.

Speaking to Citi News, one of the headmasters in the Northern Region says the government’s swift intervention will prevent students from forcibly vacating school due to the shortage.

“In my case, we have 10 items that are not there. It includes tin tomatoes, vegetable oil, palm oil,  groundnuts, bread flour, mackerel, soya beans, sugar, beans and tom brown,” he complained.