Food shortage in public SHS because govt is broke – EduWatch

The Executive Director of Africa Education Watch (EduWatch), Kofi Asare has attributed the cases of food shortage in various government Senior High Schools due to the lack of funds to pay the debt owed to suppliers of the foodstuff.

In a social media post sighted by AcademicWeek, the policy analyst and Education Watch Director said government debt owed food suppliers has increased from GHC340 million in July to almost GHC570 million in September 2022.

“Government of Ghana (GoG) debt to SHS food suppliers has increased from GHC 340 m in July 2022 to almost GHC 570 m in Sept 2022-Story behind the food shortages. Truth is, we are damn broke. Speed up the IMF deal,” he stated.

But, the Ministry in charge of Education (MoE) has described false and untrue allegations and news publications indicating that the majority of public Senior High Schools in the country are experiencing food shortages.

The Ministry of Education denying the claim in a statement shared with AcademicWeek said “we wish to place on record that our checks reveal adequate supplies of food items have been made to the schools in question.”

Admitting recent disruptions within the food supply chain, the Education Ministry said all challenges have been resolved, thus all Senior High Schools in the country have received an adequate supply of food items.

“The Ministry of Education wishes to assure the public of its commitment and willingness to provide quality and timely supply of food to all Senior High Schools,” the statement signed by the spokesman for MoE, Kwasi Kwarteng stated.

Meanwhile, the Education Ministry (MoE) early this year said the food shortage crisis reported by the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) in Senior High Schools by July 12, 2022, will be addressed.

“The Minister for Education has just concluded a meeting with the leadership of CHASS on the issue of challenges in the supply of food to some Senior High Schools,” the spokesperson for the Ministry disclosed in a press release.

He said the management of the Ministry of Education (MoE) has agreed to address the food shortage crisis saying that “all affected public Senior High Schools are expected to receive complete supplies latest by Tuesday 12th July 2022.”