Gender Ministry initiates reforms to School Feeding Programme
The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection is reforming the management of the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP), after the ministerial responsibility for the programme was moved from the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to the GSFP last year.
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According to the sector minister, Nana Oye Lithur, as part of the reforms, financial audits of the programme has been finalised and the recommendations are being implemented.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is also supporting the ministry to undertake a performance audit of the programme.
Nana Lithur made the remarks when district directors of education and district coordinators of the GSFP met in Accra on Monday to review the implementation of the programme and strategise on how to improve it.
Also at the meeting were officials from the ministry and the GSFP Secretariat.
The GSFP is a government programme introduced in 2005 to provide one nutritious meal to primary school pupils in deprived schools across the country, with the intermediate objective of reducing hunger and malnutrition; increasing school enrolment, retention and attendance and to boost local food production.
Implementation
The implementation of the programme has increased school enrolment but it faces challenges, including delayed payment of caterers, preparation of the food under unhygienic conditions and poor quality of the food.
Nana Lithur also said the meeting was a positive way of deepening the collaboration between the GSFP and the Ghana Education Service (GES) "to improve and deepen the quality of school feeding in Ghana."
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Nana Lithur stated that a new management was in place at the national level and there had also been changes in some of the secretariats.
She explained that the Attorney-General's Department was drafting a bill for the GSFP and added that new caterer contracting and procurement guidelines had been developed to ensure transparency and compliance with national procurement guidelines.
"Menu served to schoolchildren will now be based on the three geographical regions of the forest, savannah and coastal areas. We are also engaging the food and nutrition industry for partnership," she said.
Nana Lithur said her ministry had secured funds to pay the arrears of the 70 days of the first term of the 2015/2016 academic year to caterers.
She did not mention the amount involved but assured caterers that payment for "the 70 days would be released by the close of this month."
Nutritious meals
The National Coordinator of the GSFP, Mr Patrick Acheampong, said the aim of the programme was to provide nutritious meals to schoolchildren to increase school enrolment and retention.
"We want to ensure that the lives of the children are healthier, happier and improved," he said.
The Greater Accra Regional Director of Education, Mrs Felicia Boakye Yiadom, said the implementation of the GSFP had increased school enrolment and retention resulting in more girls being in school.
She also stated that the programme faced challenges such as food being prepared at distant places and transported on motorbikes to schools, poor quality of the food and food being served in polythene bags.