Editorial

Improve SHS feeding arrangements

At the time of the implementation of the Free Senior High School policy by the Akufo-Addo administration, feeding of senior high school students was the talk of the town.

The beneficiary students praised both the quality and quantity of the food.

With time, both the quality and quantity started to deteriorate for some reasons.

Some school officials started stealing some of the food items.

Also, there were reports of issues relating to delays in supply­ing food items to the schools.

Today, we hear of even lack of food items in the schools.

To this end, President John Mahama has ordered the distri­bution of food meant for victims of last year’s drought in the northern part of the country to senior high schools.

This initiative is in response to concerns over food shortages in schools and aimed at bringing immediate relief to the schools.

Currently, a former Deputy Ranking Member on Parliament’s Education Committee, Clem­ent Apaak, has confirmed that the Ghana Armed Forces has commenced the distribution of food supplies from warehouses in Tema to Senior High Schools (SHSs) across the country.

President John Mahama had earlier ordered the distribution of food meant for victims of last year’s drought in the northern part of the country to be redi­rected to schools. This initiative follows concerns over food shortages in schools and aims to provide immediate relief.

This initiative is in response to concerns over food shortages in schools and aimed at bringing immediate relief to the schools.

The Ghanaian Times commends the decisive move made by Presi­dent Mahama.

It takes food to provide energy for students to have the strength to study and to take part in co-curricular activities.

This means when students are hungry teaching and learning will be a huge problem.

A hungry student cannot absorb the knowledge imparted by teachers, which make teaching a wasted effort.

When this persists for a long period, the quality of education in the country will be compro­mised.

Already, people have their vari­ous opinions about the quality of education in the country.

Those who think the SHS quality is okay now may fear that its quality in the face of food shortages shall be compromised.

On the other hand, those who think the quality is not the best would complain that things would get worse.

Either way, the story is not pleasant, so the need to strength­en the feeding system in the SHSs is non-negotiable.

The truth is that some students are not given enough provisions by parents, which means that when the school is not able to give them food, such students would be handicapped as they can be at the mercy of others, including even their mates.

Starvation can also come by with its own health hazards.

It’s a fact that food is a security issue such that when students are hungry, they can go on the ram­page and destroy school property, as well as attack school officials they perceived to have caused their predicament.

Considering all the negative issues with lack of food in the SHSs, we reiterate our commen­dation for the Mahama govern­ment for the move to solve SHS feeding problems.

We hope things would get better, including the quality.

The complaints about quality paint a picture of a nightmare.

Kitchen staff must acknowl­edge that the students deserve better.

Why, for instance, should beans be cooked together with the stones, insects, sand and what have you?

Thievery at the kitchen too must stop.

The Ghanaian Times believes that in no time, the SHS feeding story would one to serenade the public

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