“If you go down south, the parents are able to even feed their children and supply them with other things. Either they [the parents] bring it to the schools or they give it [food items] to the children so that the children can supplement whatever they get from the dining hall.”
Richard Akumbasi, the Upper East Regional Chairman for the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) said this when he spoke to Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith on the Day Break Upper East Show.
He was of the opinion that despite the Free Senior High School (Free SHS), parents needed to continue to support their wards with food items. This would help students survive in times when schools have extreme difficulty in feeding the students.
Mr. Akumbasi realized that since the inception of the Free SHS, many parents send their children to schools with empty ‘chop-boxes’. The situation may force some students to starve, particularly, because of the recent food situation in various schools across the country.
Because schools are struggling to feed students, CHASS is asking parents to support the various schools with food items.
“That is the way we should go. Yes, schools are not supposed to take or charge monies. That one is an explicit warning given to us. But if parents decide to buy foodstuff and bring it to the school and say take and support yourselves, we can take that. Those are donations. We are allowed to take donations.”
“Parents should try by various means to try and supplement their children’s feeding. Some of the parents eat food and throw some away but your child is hungry in school,” he added.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
