Authorities of the University of Ghana have expressed disappointment about last Friday’s violent clash between students of Commonwealth and Mensah Sarbah halls which left two students seriously injured.
Students of these two halls clashed on Friday December 17, resulting in the destruction of properties belonging to both halls worth thousands of Ghana cedis.
Authorities of the University said they are yet to establish the actual cause of the clash.
However, information available to Citi News indicate that students of Commonwealth hall descended on their colleagues from Mensah Sarbah hall to retaliate for beating up one of their colleagues for allegedly stealing a mobile phone.
A team of police and military officers had to intervene to restore order to the campus. There was a similar clash last academic year which resulted in the destruction of properties belonging to the University.
Police at Legon have also begun investigating the incident.
The Dean of students of the University, Dr. James Adomako told Citi News that any student found culpable in relation to the clash will be appropriately sanctioned.
"It is disappointing to say the least but we are still investigating it and we have to wait for investigations to be concluded. After the investigations whatever recommendations come out will be implemented as such".
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Plan Ghana support education
Plan Ghana, a child centred non-governmental organization, has provided some communities in the Mankessim Programme Area of the NGO with 33 pre-school blocks, 23 Junior High schools, two Senior High schools and 20 libraries as its contribution to education in the area.
At least 1,500 pupils have also benefited from a scholarship scheme the NGO has instituted.
Mfantseman Municipal Assembly, Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese and Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam Districts are the operation areas of the Mankessim Programme Area of the NGO.
Mr Suleman Gbana, the Programme Area Manager, said this at the handing-over ceremonies of two schools, a six-unit classroom, office, store, library and computer centre for Ekumfi Techiman near Mankessim and a pre-school block for Etsii Bewora near Abeadze Dominase.
The Ekumfi Techiman school was put up and furnished at a cost of GH¢104,644.00 with funds mobilized by Hobsons Company of the US, UK and Australia for Plan Ghana to implement the project.
The Bewora pre-school project was funded by Letcher Family of the United Kingdom through Plan Ghana.
Mr Gbana expressed concern about sexual harassment of school children, especially girls by their peers, teachers and sometimes their own relatives.
He said these shameful acts on the children had some adverse effect on their education making some to shun men during their adulthood.
Mr Gbana said Plan Ghana, realizing that infrastructure alone could not make a school and that children must be enrolled and retained, had launched a campaign dubbed "learn without fear" to make children who had gone through such experience to put them behind and forge ahead with their studies without fear.
Mr Kofi Aidoo, Principal Personnel Officer at the Mfantseman Municipal Assembly, expressed concern about the waning communal spirit of the people in the Municipality and said the Assembly had decided to support with materials communities that had initiated their own projects.
He said reports had reached the Assembly that facilities financed by Plan Ghana and other donor agencies were not being properly maintained by the beneficiary communities and urged them to show their gratitude to the donors by taking very good care of the projects.
Madam Rose Otoo, Assistant Director of Education at the Municipal Directorate of Education, expressed the appreciation of the Municipal Education Directorate to Plan Ghana for its support for education.
Nana Kweku Issah, the Regent of Ekumfi Techiman, appealed to Plan Ghana to provide the town with living quarters for teachers to enable them to stay in the town.
Mr Peter Abakah, Deputy Manager, Islamic Education Unit, commended the collaboration between teachers and parents at Bewora that enabled the project to be completed in a record time.
Nana Essel, Mbranthen of Bewora, appealed to Plan Ghana to help the town to rebuild its primary school block that a rainstorm destroyed.
Source: GNA
At least 1,500 pupils have also benefited from a scholarship scheme the NGO has instituted.
Mfantseman Municipal Assembly, Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese and Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam Districts are the operation areas of the Mankessim Programme Area of the NGO.
Mr Suleman Gbana, the Programme Area Manager, said this at the handing-over ceremonies of two schools, a six-unit classroom, office, store, library and computer centre for Ekumfi Techiman near Mankessim and a pre-school block for Etsii Bewora near Abeadze Dominase.
The Ekumfi Techiman school was put up and furnished at a cost of GH¢104,644.00 with funds mobilized by Hobsons Company of the US, UK and Australia for Plan Ghana to implement the project.
The Bewora pre-school project was funded by Letcher Family of the United Kingdom through Plan Ghana.
Mr Gbana expressed concern about sexual harassment of school children, especially girls by their peers, teachers and sometimes their own relatives.
He said these shameful acts on the children had some adverse effect on their education making some to shun men during their adulthood.
Mr Gbana said Plan Ghana, realizing that infrastructure alone could not make a school and that children must be enrolled and retained, had launched a campaign dubbed "learn without fear" to make children who had gone through such experience to put them behind and forge ahead with their studies without fear.
Mr Kofi Aidoo, Principal Personnel Officer at the Mfantseman Municipal Assembly, expressed concern about the waning communal spirit of the people in the Municipality and said the Assembly had decided to support with materials communities that had initiated their own projects.
He said reports had reached the Assembly that facilities financed by Plan Ghana and other donor agencies were not being properly maintained by the beneficiary communities and urged them to show their gratitude to the donors by taking very good care of the projects.
Madam Rose Otoo, Assistant Director of Education at the Municipal Directorate of Education, expressed the appreciation of the Municipal Education Directorate to Plan Ghana for its support for education.
Nana Kweku Issah, the Regent of Ekumfi Techiman, appealed to Plan Ghana to provide the town with living quarters for teachers to enable them to stay in the town.
Mr Peter Abakah, Deputy Manager, Islamic Education Unit, commended the collaboration between teachers and parents at Bewora that enabled the project to be completed in a record time.
Nana Essel, Mbranthen of Bewora, appealed to Plan Ghana to help the town to rebuild its primary school block that a rainstorm destroyed.
Source: GNA
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Don't play politics with school feeding programme - National Coordinator
The National Coordinator of the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP), Mr S.P. Adamu, has called on politicians to spare the programme the continuous politicisation to enable it to achieve its laudable objectives.
He said as a national programme of immense benefits, the GSFP must be supported by all persons irrespective of their political persuasions.
Speaking at the annual district level stakeholders meeting of the programme in the Ashanti Region in Kumasi, Mr Adamu said: "This programme came during President Kufuor's administration and today President Mills is building on it so there is no need to play any kind of politics with it."
"The GSFP is dear to the heart of every right thinking Ghanaian,” he stressed.
Mr Adamu, therefore, noted that if all Ghanaians threw their full weight behind the programme, there was no way that it would not change the face of the educational system for the better.
The meeting organised by the Ashanti Regional Secretariat of the GSFP brought together key actors overseeing the implementation of the programme in the various districts to share their experiences for the year 2010, and strategise on possible new approaches to remove the bottlenecks in the system.
The coordinator commended the government for showing so much commitment to the development of the GSFP and pledged that managers of the programme would continue to work assiduously towards improving standards.
After five years of the programme, the national coordinator noted that there was the need to review certain aspects in order to introduce new and effective ways of getting things going.
He indicated that some lapses had been detected in the running of the programme at the regional and district levels and plans were underway to correct them.
He mentioned for instance the uncoordinated activities of the actors and stressed that there must be link-ups between the various players so that together they could get the best for the pupils.
Mr Adamu urged caterers under the GSFP to purchase their food items from the local people to help bring money into the pockets of the local farmers.
The Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr Kofi Opoku-Manu, who opened the meeting, reminded the gathering that the GSFP was part of the government's efforts at achieving the Millennium Development Goals on eradicating extreme hunger and poverty, and improving basic education.
The programme therefore needed the support of all people irrespective of political leanings.
So far, he said, the positive impacts of the programme had been felt but much was needed to make it more effective and to further increase the coverage to schools.
Mr Opoku-Manu mentioned managerial disregard to lay down systems as one major challenge confronting the programme, and called for the managers to play to the rules.
In an interview, the Ashanti Regional Coordinator of the GSFP, Mrs Ophelia Antwi-Boasiako, said her outfit was determined to put in measures that would further advance the course of the programme in 2011.
She said caterers in the region were happy that payments for work done were now forthcoming.
Source: Daily Graphic
He said as a national programme of immense benefits, the GSFP must be supported by all persons irrespective of their political persuasions.
Speaking at the annual district level stakeholders meeting of the programme in the Ashanti Region in Kumasi, Mr Adamu said: "This programme came during President Kufuor's administration and today President Mills is building on it so there is no need to play any kind of politics with it."
"The GSFP is dear to the heart of every right thinking Ghanaian,” he stressed.
Mr Adamu, therefore, noted that if all Ghanaians threw their full weight behind the programme, there was no way that it would not change the face of the educational system for the better.
The meeting organised by the Ashanti Regional Secretariat of the GSFP brought together key actors overseeing the implementation of the programme in the various districts to share their experiences for the year 2010, and strategise on possible new approaches to remove the bottlenecks in the system.
The coordinator commended the government for showing so much commitment to the development of the GSFP and pledged that managers of the programme would continue to work assiduously towards improving standards.
After five years of the programme, the national coordinator noted that there was the need to review certain aspects in order to introduce new and effective ways of getting things going.
He indicated that some lapses had been detected in the running of the programme at the regional and district levels and plans were underway to correct them.
He mentioned for instance the uncoordinated activities of the actors and stressed that there must be link-ups between the various players so that together they could get the best for the pupils.
Mr Adamu urged caterers under the GSFP to purchase their food items from the local people to help bring money into the pockets of the local farmers.
The Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr Kofi Opoku-Manu, who opened the meeting, reminded the gathering that the GSFP was part of the government's efforts at achieving the Millennium Development Goals on eradicating extreme hunger and poverty, and improving basic education.
The programme therefore needed the support of all people irrespective of political leanings.
So far, he said, the positive impacts of the programme had been felt but much was needed to make it more effective and to further increase the coverage to schools.
Mr Opoku-Manu mentioned managerial disregard to lay down systems as one major challenge confronting the programme, and called for the managers to play to the rules.
In an interview, the Ashanti Regional Coordinator of the GSFP, Mrs Ophelia Antwi-Boasiako, said her outfit was determined to put in measures that would further advance the course of the programme in 2011.
She said caterers in the region were happy that payments for work done were now forthcoming.
Source: Daily Graphic
T-Poly to spearhead a new era of Polytechnic education in Ghana
By Nathaniel Glover-Meni
The Rector of the Polytechnic, Reverend Professor Daniel Nyarko, believes that T-Poly will not only saunter to success, but also, he is confident that measures being initiated by his administration will spur the school to advance a new phase in technical education in the country.
Empty promises? Professor Nyarko disagrees, maintaining that his administration will persevere, in line with the Polytechnic’s vision, to achieve excellence in manpower training and action research in order to facilitate the economic development of Ghana in general and the Western Region in particular.
In achieving the objective of rejuvenating the school, the Polytechnic’s management has set for itself ambitious goals, the first of which is the application of Information Communication and Technology (ICT) in the delivery of lessons.
The implementation of this policy will lead to the incorporation of ICT into the traditional mode of teaching by installing LCD projectors in classrooms and lecture theatres to improve the delivery of lessons. The aim is to equip students with competencies that will put them ahead of their peers in a competitive globalized job arena.
Another step that authorities of T-Poly have initiated, which, they hope would cement the Polytechnic’s image as an inspiring centre of scholarship, is the decision to graduate students six months after writing their final examinations. The first batch of such students graduated on December 18, 2010. It was a historic event, as the Vice-President of the Republic of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, became the first very high ranking state official to grace the occasion since the Polytechnic gained tertiary status in 1992. This is a positive policy change, as compared to the anguish students had to endure in the past, waiting two years for their results.
It is worth stating that the late release of Higher National Diploma certificates in the past somehow stalled the progress of such students, denying them immediate entry into the job market. It also delayed the promotion of those that came to the school on study-leave, as well as scuttling the opportunity of those aspiring for further studies.
Mr. Michael Okine, who was adjudged the best graduating student with an HND in Statistics, corroborates this view, describing the Congregation as a “unique one” that puts him in a pole position in getting a job compared to his peers in some other schools who have to wait for over one year for their certificates.
Mr. Patrick Dankyi, who graduated with a first class HND in Mechanical Engineering, concurs using the phrase “good” in describing the novel congregation. Dankyi is however futuristic, hoping that the Nyarko administration will not rest on its laurels but will eventually organize congregations within three months after the final papers.
One other initiative being pursued by the Polytechnic to transform the school and contribute to the industrial development of the country is the decision to position the people of the Western Region to benefit from the wealth of the emerging petroleum industry. Consequently, management has launched a number of demand-driven programmes which are geared towards enhancing the skills of the youth to play active and meaningful economic roles for the rapid development of the country.
Among the programmes being mounted are technician courses in process engineering, logistics and transport, aircraft maintenance and welding. This bold foray into the oil and gas sector received the endorsement of the Vice-President, John Dramani Mahama, when management of the Polytechnic paid a courtesy call on him at the Castle, Osu, recently. Vice-President Mahama specifically charged the leaders of the Polytechnic to help train middle level technicians required for the budding industry.
According to him, T-Poly must serve as the pivot in training middle level manpower that the country requires for the oil industry, not because it is the tertiary institution closest to the oil fields, but because of a state policy requiring 90 per cent local content in the petro-chemical industry of the country.
It is essential to state that the attempt to mount oil and gas courses has paid off significantly. One clear dividend of this effort is the resolution by the key partners in the development of the Jubilee Oil Field, led by Tullow Oil, to partner with T-Poly in the area of process engineering. Tullow has since acquired the equipment to be used in training students in the art of process engineering, controls and instrumentation, all key manpower needs of the up-and-coming industry.
In terms of infrastructural development, the Polytechnic is to undertake the modernization of laboratories and workshops, as well as completing on-going projects such as a four-storey School of Applied Arts building. The initiation and completion of such projects will ease the squeeze on such facilities at the moment.
The squeeze on academic facilities has been a source of worry for students. Mr. Godfred Schandorf, the Relations Officer of the Students’ Representative Council, supports the investment in new lecture theatres, expansion of the existing library, and procuring of extra furniture for the classrooms.
Financial Support
Myjoyonline Ghana News Photos |
Responding to these concerns, Mr. Jones Addai-Marfo, the Registrar of the Polytechnic, said the new strategic thrust of the foremost tertiary institution in Ghana’s third largest city, Sekondi-Takoradi, will be on infrastructural development, with emphasis on classroom scheduling and addressing accommodation problems faced by staff.
This, he explained, would require a lot of financial support. He was, however, hopeful that the Polytechnic would team up with some investors in addressing these challenges. This would be in addition to the support it receives from government.
The Polytechnic has also decided to focus on raising the profile of minorities in the next phase of its development, with a possible establishment of a resource centre to cater for the needs of physically-challenged persons, aspiring to earn technician certificates from the Polytechnic. Takoradi Polytechnic is on record as having assisted in the training of a deaf and dumb student in furniture engineering in 2005, and admitted another deaf and dumb student in 2010 to pursue HND in Hotel, Catering and Institutional Management (HCIM). The institution would naturally capitalize on this feat to mount additional programmes for the physically-challenged.
The only female in an all male management caste, Dr Angela Lemaire, agreed that the infrastructure of the Polytechnic must be transformed to enable the school be ahead of its peers. She said the Polytechnic, especially the Business School of which she is the Dean, is one of the most sought after in the country with regard to Polytechnic education. The Business School has about 52 per cent of the Polytechnic’s 8,500 students.
Aside the quality of its teaching, the Takoradi Polytechnic School of Business Studies is also famed for its language laboratory services and also for starting the first non-tertiary course in tourism in the country. The certificate course in tourism enables practitioners in that field, who held jobs without the requisite qualifications in a field considered one of the nation’s leading money grosser, to upgrade themselves. The mounting of the programme therefore helps fill a gaping hole in the manpower needs of that sector.
The school’s secretaryship programme is touted as being probably the only such secretarial school in a Polytechnic in the country with a language laboratory as well as a complementary set of computers, electronic and manual typewriters to enable the students adjusts quickly to whatever working environment they find themselves.
Despite the progress being made, some difficulties remain, with infrastructural development being one of the most challenging. Dr Lemaire also wants the Polytechnic to make a greater foray into research and encourage the regular publication of those works for the benefit of society. The Polytechnic must also place greater emphasis on consultancy, informed by sound research to boost its stature as a thriving academic entity.
Even so, there are still fears that the Polytechnic may miss the opportunity and probably slide into occurrences of students’ unrests arising out of disputes with the then management, a situation that disrupted academic progress.
Professor Nyarko does not share this dim perspective. However, he admits that the Polytechnic has learnt lessons from the episode in question and, as a result, has put in place measures to forestall their recurrence. He called those turbulent periods before he took over as typical of the ups and downs organizations had to endure in the course of their development, though such events are regrettable.
Prof. Nyarko points to the streamlining of academic and administrative structures and the implementation of the Polytechnic’s statutes without fear or favour to any vested interest groups as among the remedial actions that have been taken to avoid students’ disturbances. He is hopeful that this, among the policies being implemented, will transform T-Poly into a quality academic sanctuary, positioned to make its contribution to national development.
Nathaniel Glover-Meni is a Journalist and Relations Practitioner.
The Rector of the Polytechnic, Reverend Professor Daniel Nyarko, believes that T-Poly will not only saunter to success, but also, he is confident that measures being initiated by his administration will spur the school to advance a new phase in technical education in the country.
Empty promises? Professor Nyarko disagrees, maintaining that his administration will persevere, in line with the Polytechnic’s vision, to achieve excellence in manpower training and action research in order to facilitate the economic development of Ghana in general and the Western Region in particular.
In achieving the objective of rejuvenating the school, the Polytechnic’s management has set for itself ambitious goals, the first of which is the application of Information Communication and Technology (ICT) in the delivery of lessons.
The implementation of this policy will lead to the incorporation of ICT into the traditional mode of teaching by installing LCD projectors in classrooms and lecture theatres to improve the delivery of lessons. The aim is to equip students with competencies that will put them ahead of their peers in a competitive globalized job arena.
Another step that authorities of T-Poly have initiated, which, they hope would cement the Polytechnic’s image as an inspiring centre of scholarship, is the decision to graduate students six months after writing their final examinations. The first batch of such students graduated on December 18, 2010. It was a historic event, as the Vice-President of the Republic of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, became the first very high ranking state official to grace the occasion since the Polytechnic gained tertiary status in 1992. This is a positive policy change, as compared to the anguish students had to endure in the past, waiting two years for their results.
It is worth stating that the late release of Higher National Diploma certificates in the past somehow stalled the progress of such students, denying them immediate entry into the job market. It also delayed the promotion of those that came to the school on study-leave, as well as scuttling the opportunity of those aspiring for further studies.
Mr. Michael Okine, who was adjudged the best graduating student with an HND in Statistics, corroborates this view, describing the Congregation as a “unique one” that puts him in a pole position in getting a job compared to his peers in some other schools who have to wait for over one year for their certificates.
Mr. Patrick Dankyi, who graduated with a first class HND in Mechanical Engineering, concurs using the phrase “good” in describing the novel congregation. Dankyi is however futuristic, hoping that the Nyarko administration will not rest on its laurels but will eventually organize congregations within three months after the final papers.
One other initiative being pursued by the Polytechnic to transform the school and contribute to the industrial development of the country is the decision to position the people of the Western Region to benefit from the wealth of the emerging petroleum industry. Consequently, management has launched a number of demand-driven programmes which are geared towards enhancing the skills of the youth to play active and meaningful economic roles for the rapid development of the country.
Among the programmes being mounted are technician courses in process engineering, logistics and transport, aircraft maintenance and welding. This bold foray into the oil and gas sector received the endorsement of the Vice-President, John Dramani Mahama, when management of the Polytechnic paid a courtesy call on him at the Castle, Osu, recently. Vice-President Mahama specifically charged the leaders of the Polytechnic to help train middle level technicians required for the budding industry.
According to him, T-Poly must serve as the pivot in training middle level manpower that the country requires for the oil industry, not because it is the tertiary institution closest to the oil fields, but because of a state policy requiring 90 per cent local content in the petro-chemical industry of the country.
It is essential to state that the attempt to mount oil and gas courses has paid off significantly. One clear dividend of this effort is the resolution by the key partners in the development of the Jubilee Oil Field, led by Tullow Oil, to partner with T-Poly in the area of process engineering. Tullow has since acquired the equipment to be used in training students in the art of process engineering, controls and instrumentation, all key manpower needs of the up-and-coming industry.
In terms of infrastructural development, the Polytechnic is to undertake the modernization of laboratories and workshops, as well as completing on-going projects such as a four-storey School of Applied Arts building. The initiation and completion of such projects will ease the squeeze on such facilities at the moment.
The squeeze on academic facilities has been a source of worry for students. Mr. Godfred Schandorf, the Relations Officer of the Students’ Representative Council, supports the investment in new lecture theatres, expansion of the existing library, and procuring of extra furniture for the classrooms.
Financial Support
Myjoyonline Ghana News Photos |
Responding to these concerns, Mr. Jones Addai-Marfo, the Registrar of the Polytechnic, said the new strategic thrust of the foremost tertiary institution in Ghana’s third largest city, Sekondi-Takoradi, will be on infrastructural development, with emphasis on classroom scheduling and addressing accommodation problems faced by staff.
This, he explained, would require a lot of financial support. He was, however, hopeful that the Polytechnic would team up with some investors in addressing these challenges. This would be in addition to the support it receives from government.
The Polytechnic has also decided to focus on raising the profile of minorities in the next phase of its development, with a possible establishment of a resource centre to cater for the needs of physically-challenged persons, aspiring to earn technician certificates from the Polytechnic. Takoradi Polytechnic is on record as having assisted in the training of a deaf and dumb student in furniture engineering in 2005, and admitted another deaf and dumb student in 2010 to pursue HND in Hotel, Catering and Institutional Management (HCIM). The institution would naturally capitalize on this feat to mount additional programmes for the physically-challenged.
The only female in an all male management caste, Dr Angela Lemaire, agreed that the infrastructure of the Polytechnic must be transformed to enable the school be ahead of its peers. She said the Polytechnic, especially the Business School of which she is the Dean, is one of the most sought after in the country with regard to Polytechnic education. The Business School has about 52 per cent of the Polytechnic’s 8,500 students.
Aside the quality of its teaching, the Takoradi Polytechnic School of Business Studies is also famed for its language laboratory services and also for starting the first non-tertiary course in tourism in the country. The certificate course in tourism enables practitioners in that field, who held jobs without the requisite qualifications in a field considered one of the nation’s leading money grosser, to upgrade themselves. The mounting of the programme therefore helps fill a gaping hole in the manpower needs of that sector.
The school’s secretaryship programme is touted as being probably the only such secretarial school in a Polytechnic in the country with a language laboratory as well as a complementary set of computers, electronic and manual typewriters to enable the students adjusts quickly to whatever working environment they find themselves.
Despite the progress being made, some difficulties remain, with infrastructural development being one of the most challenging. Dr Lemaire also wants the Polytechnic to make a greater foray into research and encourage the regular publication of those works for the benefit of society. The Polytechnic must also place greater emphasis on consultancy, informed by sound research to boost its stature as a thriving academic entity.
Even so, there are still fears that the Polytechnic may miss the opportunity and probably slide into occurrences of students’ unrests arising out of disputes with the then management, a situation that disrupted academic progress.
Professor Nyarko does not share this dim perspective. However, he admits that the Polytechnic has learnt lessons from the episode in question and, as a result, has put in place measures to forestall their recurrence. He called those turbulent periods before he took over as typical of the ups and downs organizations had to endure in the course of their development, though such events are regrettable.
Prof. Nyarko points to the streamlining of academic and administrative structures and the implementation of the Polytechnic’s statutes without fear or favour to any vested interest groups as among the remedial actions that have been taken to avoid students’ disturbances. He is hopeful that this, among the policies being implemented, will transform T-Poly into a quality academic sanctuary, positioned to make its contribution to national development.
Nathaniel Glover-Meni is a Journalist and Relations Practitioner.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Caterer alleges head teachers steal food
Madam Issah Saratu, the Vice President of the Northern Caterers of the Ghana School Feeding Programme, has alleged that head teachers in beneficiary schools in the Tamale Metropolis had been stealing foodstuff meant for the programme.
She said the head teachers shared foodstuff given by the World Food Programme (WFP) and in some cases gave cooking oils to caterers as their share of the booty.
Mad. Saratu alleged that the stealing took place at the end of every school term.
She made the allegation on Wednesday in Tamale during a meeting organised by Send-Ghana, a non-governmental organisation under the theme; "Rethinking the Ghana School Feeding Programme in the Northern Region."
Mad. Sadatu said the stealing had been taking place in eight schools and some of the caterers had been complaining that the practice was unfair and illegal.
She expressed worry about the five percent tax imposed on caterers undertaking the programme saying that caterers were already overstretched financially by feeding pupils above the stipulated number agreed upon due to increasing enrollment.
Mad. Sadatu complained that the WFP had also reduced the amount spent per child from GHp40 to GHp29 making it difficult for the caterers to be able to meet the programme's quality and quantity standards.
Mr. Titus Segtub, the Field Officer of Send-Ghana, said the programme in 2010 intended to serve about 1.04 million children in all districts of Ghana with the long-term objective of contributing to poverty reduction and food security through the purchasing of locally grown foods.
He said 127 schools and 50,963 pupils were benefiting from the programme while 127 caterers were serving the schools.
Mr. Segtub said there was weak collaboration among the institutions and stakeholders thereby affecting the effectiveness of the programme.
He said there seemed to be usurping of roles by bringing the programme under the Local Government Ministry.
Mr. Segtub called for a law backing the programme and there should be effective monitoring to put it on a better footing.
Madam Adama Jehanfo, Senior Education Officer of SNV, said the programme was in transition and that the first phase was coming to an end while preparations were being made to roll out the second phase.
She said the Dutch government was one of the largest contributors to the programme, contributing about 40 percent of the total cost adding that problems associated with the programme would be addressed when the second phase begins.
Source: GNA
She said the head teachers shared foodstuff given by the World Food Programme (WFP) and in some cases gave cooking oils to caterers as their share of the booty.
Mad. Saratu alleged that the stealing took place at the end of every school term.
She made the allegation on Wednesday in Tamale during a meeting organised by Send-Ghana, a non-governmental organisation under the theme; "Rethinking the Ghana School Feeding Programme in the Northern Region."
Mad. Sadatu said the stealing had been taking place in eight schools and some of the caterers had been complaining that the practice was unfair and illegal.
She expressed worry about the five percent tax imposed on caterers undertaking the programme saying that caterers were already overstretched financially by feeding pupils above the stipulated number agreed upon due to increasing enrollment.
Mad. Sadatu complained that the WFP had also reduced the amount spent per child from GHp40 to GHp29 making it difficult for the caterers to be able to meet the programme's quality and quantity standards.
Mr. Titus Segtub, the Field Officer of Send-Ghana, said the programme in 2010 intended to serve about 1.04 million children in all districts of Ghana with the long-term objective of contributing to poverty reduction and food security through the purchasing of locally grown foods.
He said 127 schools and 50,963 pupils were benefiting from the programme while 127 caterers were serving the schools.
Mr. Segtub said there was weak collaboration among the institutions and stakeholders thereby affecting the effectiveness of the programme.
He said there seemed to be usurping of roles by bringing the programme under the Local Government Ministry.
Mr. Segtub called for a law backing the programme and there should be effective monitoring to put it on a better footing.
Madam Adama Jehanfo, Senior Education Officer of SNV, said the programme was in transition and that the first phase was coming to an end while preparations were being made to roll out the second phase.
She said the Dutch government was one of the largest contributors to the programme, contributing about 40 percent of the total cost adding that problems associated with the programme would be addressed when the second phase begins.
Source: GNA
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