Government partners Ghana Commodity Exchange to address food shortages in Senior High Schools

Following recent concerns raised by students and heads of Senior High Schools across the country about food shortages, the Ministry of Education has partnered with the Ghana Commodity Exchange to address the challenge. The National Food Buffer Stock Company has been added to the partnership to ensure adequate food supply in various public Senior High Schools in Ghana.

The Education Minister, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, has been visiting schools in the Ashanti Region with the Director General of the Ghana Education Service and a number of heads of agencies under the Education Ministry. During the visit, the Minister expressed excitement with the availability of food items in the schools and assured that there is enough food to be supplied to various schools.

In addition to visiting schools, the Education Ministry’s team also visited basic, second cycle, and tertiary institutions in the region to motivate students and listen to the concerns of the respective schools.

William Dankwa, the National Coordinator of the Free SHS Programme, said his outfit is taking proactive measures to promptly supply schools that run out of food items. “Periodically, food items are being delivered to schools. So, at any point in time, these distribution centres are filled. We have about 54 of these distribution centres across the country that are all filled with food items”, he said.

The partnership between the Ghana Commodity Exchange and the National Food Buffer Stock Company seeks to add more food items to the buffer stock and ensure timely delivery to schools. “The challenges of the past year brought about a new innovation of adding the commodity exchange to buffer stock so that in a joint partnership, they can serve our schools”, said the Education Minister.

For the most part, it appears that the partnership between the Ghana Commodity Exchange and the National Food Buffer Stock Company has brought about positive changes in the availability of food items in Senior High Schools across the country. With adequate food supply to schools, students can focus on their studies and achieve academic excellence.

Source: Citi Newsroom