Connect with us

Education

School feeding caterers to be paid this week — Minister

Published

on

Caterers under the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) will be paid their arrears for the third term of the 2022 academic year this week, the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Lariba Zuweira Abudu, has said.

According to the minister, the files of 11,052 caterers had been finalised for payment, adding that the government had already settled the outstanding debts for the first and second terms of the 2022 academic year.

Although Hajia Abudu could not indicate the exact amount of the payments to be made this week, she said 76 caterers were unlikely to receive their money due to some pending challenges with their ezwich cards.

Meet-the-press

Hajia Abudu was addressing journalists at the Minister’s Press Briefing in Accra yesterday to update the public on the payments, the way forward and other matters.  

This follows weeks of agitations by the caterers, some of whom threatened to stop preparing meals for beneficiary schoolchildren due to the mounting arrears which they said had compelled them to operate under constrained budgets.

Feeding programme

The minister said there were about 34,350 caterers under the programme who cooked for about 3,801,491 beneficiaries in 10,832 public basic schools across the country.

“The feeding cost per meal per day per child was increased from 80 pesewas (80Gp) in 2018 to GH¢1, and in 2023, the cost per meal per child per day has been proposed as GH¢1.20,” she said.

Ms Abudu said that the programme which provided employment to especially women to generate income to take care of their families had also created a ready market for local farmers, thereby helping to boost the economy.  

“The GSFP is one of the social protection flagship programmes which is consistent with other major policies and development strategies of the government as part of its shared growth development agenda and national social protection strategy which hinges on Sustainable Development Goals One, Two, Four and Five,” she said.

Ms Abudu said the ministry was running an electronic monitoring system which provided real time data to enhance the delivery of the programme. 

“A software has been developed to manage the GSFP data, and the ministry will continue to implement planned activities and monitor compliance to standards so that no one is left behind,” she added.

LEAP programme

Touching on Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty Programme (LEAP), the minister said, it had cleared arrears from 2022 and that beneficiaries had reached 1.5 million this year, adding that the “government has doubled the amount for beneficiaries”.

She said persons accused of witchcraft in the five camps of the Northern and North East regions had been included in the LEAP cash grants.

Ms Abudu explained that while it was not difficult for the government to close down the witch camps, it was important to note that the camps served as the first port of call  for the safety of such persons.

She said in 2022 there were about 84 inmates at the camps which had since risen to 96 as of last month, including alleged wizards (men).

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Education

Senior Staff Association of Universities of Ghana declares total nationwide strike

Published

on

The Senior Staff Association of Universities of Ghana (SSA-UoG) has announced a total nationwide strike on Monday, September 16, 2024.

This is to express their demands for improved working conditions, after several protests and negotiations did not yield any result from government.

In a statement signed by National Chairman George Ansong on September 13, the Association expressed frustration over the government’s inability to fulfil previous agreements, highlighting several reasons.

According to them, although an earlier agreement was made, the government has not implemented new rates for vehicle maintenance and related allowances.

The statement also noted that the government has not released Tier Two deductions to Fund Managers since January 2024 and has neglected to recalculate interest on Tier Two pension funds from 2010 to 2016.

The SSA-UoG has directed all member campuses to adhere strictly to the strike directive, emphasising that the government failure to reach the agreement has caused the strike action.

Continue Reading

Education

We’re not ready to work beyond our legally mandated hours

Published

on

The leadership of the Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG) has expressed its willingness to discuss how to recover lost instructional hours following their two-month-long strike, which lasted from June 14 to August 20, 2024.

The strike was initiated in protest of the government’s failure to implement the agreed-upon conditions of service for CETAG members.

After successful negotiations with the National Labour Commission and the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, CETAG called off the strike on Tuesday, August 20.

However, in an interview with Citi News, CETAG’s national president, Prince Obeng-Himah, emphasized that while the association is open to discussions on recovering lost time, the teachers will not agree to work beyond the usual class hours.

“Some time ago, when it happened, we were compelled to teach up to 9 pm, 10 pm, then we started teaching the following day at 5 am. We are not prepared to go along that tangent. We will teach normally.

“It was not through any fault of ours because it is on record that ours is the only legal strike that Ghana has seen where we have gone on strike for two solid months and the National Labour Commission has not been able to pronounce it illegal.

“They have failed in their attempt to secure court injunctions to stop us and all of that. So we did not fault in any way. So if we are looking at Ghana in the face to say that we have called it off, there is no way anybody should impose anything that will put our health and what have you under pressure.”

Continue Reading

Education

NDC pledges to scrap academic fees for first year university students

Published

on

The Opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has made a promise to provide to scrap academic fees for first-year students in public universities.

This policy according to the party is part of a broader set of reforms aimed at making higher education accessible for all, most especially for students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

During the party’s youth manifesto launch in Accra on Monday, 12 August 2024, the flagbearer of the party, John Dramani Mahama highlighted several other key proposals including its “24-hour economy policy,” which aims to stimulate economic activity around the clock, potentially creating more job opportunities and improving productivity.

“We will create an enabling environment for young people to thrive and lay a foundation for prosperous Ghanaians not just a few.

“We will increase access to quality education from the basic and second cycle to tertiary levels as well as affordable healthcare and numerous job creation programmes,” he said.

Additionally, the party proposed the establishment of a Ministry for Youth Development, which the Party’s leader, Mahama says would presumably focus on unlocking the full potential of Ghana’s young people.

Continue Reading

Trending