School feeding programme faces challenges (7/5/09)

THE latest report on the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) has painted a gloomy picture about the future of the programme unless the current state of complementary services are improved.
According to the report which was launched in Accra last Tuesday,the state of complementary services such as basic infrastructure like kitchen facilities, a hygienic environment, safe water, supply of food by farmers and availability of teachers and teaching materials needed to support the programme is currently unsatisfactory.
The report entitled “Challenges of Institutional Collaboration: An assessment of the state of complementary services in the Ghana School Feeding Programme” was prepared by SEND-Ghana, a non-governmental organisation (NGO).
The report stated that the unsatisfactory complementary services in the GSFP was a result of the weakness in the collaboration between the GSFP and Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Ministry of Health (MoH) and Ministry of Education (MoE), especially at the district level.
The report was based on a study of the school feeding programme in twenty-three schools in 21 districts purposely selected from the three northern regions and the Greater Accra Region in the last quarter of 2008.
The study observed that the current state of complementary services in the various beneficiary schools and communities adversely affected quality education, with negative implications on the health of pupils and the sustainability of the programme.
The findings revealed that 61 per cent of beneficiary schools did not have good kitchen structures, a situation which adversely affected the maintenance of hygienic environment for the preparation of food.
It revealed that about 78 per cent of the schools did not have adequate plates and cups, resulting in eating in turns which leads finally to prolonged lunch breaks.
It revealed that about 43 per cent of the schools lacked access to safe water which compelled pupils to trek for water to support the feeding programme.
Supervisory inspection in about 96 per cent of schools did not focus on any health related service or adherence to health standards in the feeding programme but mainly on getting pupils fed, the study showed.
In terms of agricultural services, 91 per cent of schools indicated during the study that foodstuffs were not obtained directly from farmers in the beneficiary districts.
The supply of quality education was lacking in about 85 per cent of beneficiary schools as teachers were inadequate and classrooms were not enough to shelter the increasing number of the pupils in the schools.
The study therefore stressed the need to find innovative ways to strengthen the collaboration between the GSFP and the various stakeholders to ensure that food is not just delivered to the pupils but prepared under hygienic conditions.
The collaboration is also to ensure the smooth supply of foodstuffs from farmers in the beneficiary districts to accelerate agricultural activities in the country.
The study also recommended that an effective monitoring team which comprises of all the stakeholders be formed to monitor all areas of the programme.
The Country Director of SEND-Ghana, Mr Samuel Zan Akologo, said the assessment was to monitor and evaluate the GSFP to ensure that the government was able to achieve its goals.
He said it was part of civil society’s watchdog role to ensure that government policies were well implemented and corrected if necessary for the development of the country.
He said some of the stakeholders of the programme were not well informed about the roles expected of them to ensure the success of the programme while others lacked resources to play their roles effectively.
Mr Akologo however stressed the need for the necessary infrastructure to be put in place to bring all the stakeholders together and ensure an effective collaboration.