Ghana: Pupils reject School Feeding Programme

Drama unfolded when pupils of the Asante Mampong Methodist Primary A and B School in the Ashanti region rejected food prepared for them by caterers in-charge of the School Feeding Programme on Monday.



Caterers of the government intervention programme in the school reportedly had a shock of their lives when the children told them in plain language that they would not eat the ‘sub-standard’ food they had been served.

The children reportedly complained bitterly that the banku and soup that had been prepared for them for lunch lacked key ingredients and so they would not eat it.

Reports reaching this paper indicated that the students often suffered stomach upsets whenever they ate meals prepared by the caterers, so they decided to reject the food this time around in their own interest.

The action by the students, which has never happened in the area before, was immediately reported to the school authorities who in turn informed the Mampong Municipal Assembly.

Speaking on Otec FM on Monday, Mark Ababio, headmaster of the Asante Mampong Methodist Primary A and B, confirmed that indeed the food prepared by the caterers usually lacked key ingredients.

According to him, aside the soup prepared by the caterers being tasteless, the students had consistently complained of suffering from diarrhea whenever they ate the meals.

He said he gathered that the caterer used less than GH¢2 worth of tomatoes to prepare soup for about 600 students on Monday “but when I asked the caterer she debunked the report saying she used GH¢3 worth of tomatoes instead.”

Mr. Ababio said he was surprised that the caterer could boldly say that she used GH¢3 worth of tomatoes to prepare soup for such a colossal number of students, noting that the students were right in rejecting the poorly prepared food.

The headmaster disclosed that he had personally told the caterer to improve the quality of food that she prepares for the children, but nothing had changed until the students decided not to consume the sub-standard food anymore on Monday.

Meanwhile, DAILY GUIDE has gathered that the Asante Mampong Municipal Assembly had hurriedly instituted a committee to investigate the circumstances which led to the pupils rejecting the poorly prepared food.