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| A WORTHWHILE PROJECT |
1/4/2007 |
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Source : on Thursday, January 04, 2007 [General News]
A WORTHWHILE PROJECT
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Given the obvious importance of the School Feeding Programme, as the magic wand to increase school enrolment, it is a surprise to learn that its status has not been made watertight to ensure its continuity and protect it from possible interference.
But that appears to be the case. And the case is being made by someone who should know: Dr Kwame Amoako Tuffour, Chief Executive Officer of the School Feeding Programme.
Under the School Feeding Programme, basic school children are fed one hot, nutritious meal a day to encourage school enrolment and retention.
Dr Tuffour has expressed concern about its future, since at present it has no legal backing.
As we published in yesterday’s issue of this paper, he is urging the government to back the programme with legislation to ensure its sustainability.
He explained that with a law backing it, the programme would be insulated from partisan politics. Should another government come to power that had other ideas about it, for example, the programme would not be at risk of political victimisation because it would be a statutory programme.
By all accounts, and possibly even more dramatically, the one free, hot meal a day has proved just the bait needed to entice children into school, even better than the Capitation Grant.
Evidently, whereas the Grant is a facility that parents and guardians will appreciate, the plate of free food at school is something all children can relate to immediately.
Indeed, it has become so popular that now there are requests from all over the country for inclusion, as well as passionate requests that the programme should be made to cover kindergarten children as well.
The programme which started as an initiative of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development in October 2005, with 10 pilot schools, now caters for more than 500,000 children and this year the target is reportedly to double to one million children.
In a great show of support, the Dutch government is funding half the cost, while the Ghana government bears the other half.
Apart from the children benefiting, as at October, some 30 billion cedis had been spent on the programme, with jobs created for more than 2,500 people in the capacity of cooks and other kitchen staff.
Equally important, the programme uses locally-grown food and promises to be the answer to the perennial cry of Ghana’s rice farmers who have been looking frantically for markets for their produce.
We agree with the suggestion that the programme needs to be given legal backing. This would, not only to guarantee that it is sustained, but also ensure that it is run systematically and according to well-formulated procedures no matter who happens to be in charge.
What would also be of interest is that in the drafting of the law, it should be possible to link the programme permanently to available locally-produced foods to cut down costs and also boost the economy of the various localities.
Apart from the benefits to the nation, the programme has reportedly also attracted the attention of other countries, some of which are keen to learn from the Ghana model.
Therefore, we call on Parliament to take up the case of the School Feeding Programme as soon as possible, and give it the required legal backing.
Surely, this is one project that everybody can back in the full knowledge that it is worth their while.
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