Schools In Upper West And Ashanti Face Closure Due To Food Shortage

Senior High Schools (SHS) in the Upper West and Ashanti Regions are facing imminent closure as a result of food shortages and high debt owed to food suppliers.

Both the Upper West and Ashanti Regional chapters of the Conference of Heads of Assisted Schools (CHASS) have written to the Ghana Education Service to notify them of the situation.

Schools in these regions have warned of an imminent closure if authorities fail to supply them with adequate foodstuff to feed students.

In a letter widely circulated on social media, the Upper West CHASS warned that there are food shortages in all schools in the region, as a result of the cessation of supply by contracted suppliers.

These suppliers have halted supply due to huge debt arrears owed them by the schools because the government is not releasing money to clear the debts.

“It came out that the food suppliers contracted by Buffer Stock Company and those local suppliers contacted to help out are all refusing to supply due to non-payment of outstanding monies owed for food supplied to the schools. This has led to serious food shortages in all the schools in the region. In fact, an assessment of the situation indicated that most schools cannot go beyond one week if nothing urgent is done about it”, the letter reads in part

It said if the government does not step in, candidates writing the West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) will be sent home or would starve to death.

According to the letter, the situation has compelled heads of schools to feed students with whatever is available in the school food stores, while students bring their own sugar to the dining hall.

In a Daily Graphic report, Rev. Fr Sekyere, who is also the Headmaster of the Opoku Ware School (OWASS), is quoted as saying that at times “students come to the dining hall with their own sugar. But we have been managing with the little we have and when it gets finished, we wait for the supplier”.

“Because I don’t want the students to demonstrate during my tenure, at times I have to dig into my pocket to buy some of the items from the open market just to ensure that the students are okay,” he told the state-owned agency.