Caterers in some basic schools in the Upper West Region have abandoned their kitchens in response to the government’s delay in payment of their allowances and also an increment in the amount to feed each child, the Regional Correspondent of the EIB Network, Morris Banaamwine told A1 Radio.
According to Mr. Banaamwine, some caterers since the resumption of school, have not gone to work. This he added is a challenge as pupils who have received no monies from their parents to buy lunch are forced to starve or leave school for the home in search of a nourishing meal.
Mr. Banaamwine explained that the caterers are demanding an increase in the amount per feeding of each student from the 0.97p, considering the current price hikes of food commodities on the markets.
He noted that “there are some forms of cost changes in some of the foodstuff in the Upper West Region. Don’t forget that the food inflation and for that matter, the month of April Upper West came first 38.5 percent and so these and many other reasons have made the caterers think that what the government give to them to cook for the children is nothing to write home about.”
“Some of the questions they are raising are genuine in the sense that, we all know very well foodstuffs are on the rise and for that matter, they are pleading with the school feeding secretariat, the national secretariat to take a critical look at this particular issue,” he continued.
Mr. Banaamwine added that attempts to get some answers from the Regional School Feeding Coordinator proved futile.
Meanwhile, the situation in the Upper East Region is not any different. A1 Radio’s Kennedy Zongbil who spoke on the same platform gave a similar report.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1 MHz|Kennedy Zongbil|Bolgatanga|Ghana
