Chairman of the Upper West Region National Graduate Teachers Association (NAGRAT), Harruna Ussif Kadiri has said that, Senior High Schools in the Upper West Region did not receive food supplies on Tuesday July 12 as was promised by the Education Ministry.
He said on the Sunrise show on 3FM Wednesday July 13 that no headteacher has received the supplies.
“As we speak as of now there is nothing we have received so far even though a message was circulated on our WhatsApp platform that rice and sugar were expected yesterday. And none of the heads could attest to receiving any rice or sugar. If it were so, at least one of them could have said he has received something” Mr. Kadiri said.
The Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) in the Upper West Region has written a letter to the Regional Director of the Ghana Education Service (GES) that the schools are running out of money and food supplies and attempts to get some from the Buffer Stock Company suppliers and other local suppliers have proven futile due to non-payment of outstanding debts owed them.
According to the school authorities, this situation is worsening the already bad situation that they have had to deal with to ensure that students are well fed and taken care of whilst they are in school under their care.
The school managers also indicated in their letter that if the situation is not salvaged by Friday, they would be compelled to close down the school.
“If sufficient money and food is not received in the schools by Friday, 15th July, 2022, we will be compelled to tell parents and guardians to either feed their wards or come for them since it will be impossible to continue feeding them with nothing,” CHASS stated.
In an interview with the spokesperson of the Education Ministry on 3FM Sunrise on Tuesday, Kwasi Kwarteng assured that food stuffs were going to be distributed on the same day to all the senior high schools in the Upper West Region especially since their case is peculiar.
“As I have indicated already, all the schools in the Upper West Region are going to receive food supplies this morning and the by the close of today” Kwarteng told 3FM Sunrise on Tuesday 12 July, 2022
The spokesperson of the ministry of education also stated that arrangements are being made to pay the government’s debt to the suppliers and restock the food buffer.
By Samuel Afriyie Owusu|3news.com|Ghana