Minister Praises Improved Quality of School Meals After Committee Review

The Gender, Children and Social Welfare Committee of Parliament has expressed satisfaction with improvements in the quality of meals served under the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP). The Committee, led by Gender Minister Dr. Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, conducted a monitoring exercise on Thursday, December 11, visiting Peduase Methodist School in the Eastern Region and Ayi Mensa Basic School in the Greater Accra Region.

During the visits, the delegation inspected food preparation and serving processes and interacted with both pupils and caterers. Dr. Lartey attributed the observed improvements to consistent monitoring efforts at the national, regional, and zonal levels.

“Largely, I would say that the quality has improved because of the consistent monitoring. The national team is monitoring, the regions are monitoring, and the zones are as well,” she stated to JoyNews after the exercise.

While acknowledging the progress, the Minister emphasized the need for continued refinement. “It’s been good so far. We are satisfied; largely we are satisfied, there are things we can do to make it better,” she added.

The GSFP provides meals to millions of basic school pupils across Ghana, aiming to enhance nutrition, boost school enrollment, and improve retention rates. The monitoring exercise underscores the government’s commitment to these objectives.

New ‘Table Manners’ Initiative Proposed

Beyond nutritional improvements, the Ministry is proposing a new social intervention to teach pupils proper table manners. This initiative, currently awaiting parliamentary approval, seeks to instill essential social skills even within the constraints of high classroom enrollment.

“There are a few things that we are trying to put into the programme to ensure that they get some table manners taught as part of the school feeding programme. In some places, the high enrolment rate makes it difficult but at least whilst you serve them and they are eating, when you teach them, even when they are sitting in their, let me say, little corner, they will be able to know that ‘this is what you do when you are at a table; this is what you don’t do when you are at a table.’ So these are some of the small things that we want to place in it,” Dr. Lartey explained.

Attorney General Highlights Programme’s Importance for Future Leadership

Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, also participated in the monitoring exercise, interacting with pupils and reaffirming the government’s dedication to their well-being. He linked the GSFP directly to the development of Ghana’s future leaders.

“The reason why His Excellency John Dramani Mahama has ensured that the school feeding programme has not only continued but has been improved is to make sure that you can have healthy bodies and have healthy minds so you can study to become the attorneys general of the future. You can study to become the gender ministers of this country. You can study to be who you want to become,” Dr. Ayine stated.

Established under the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 2), the GSFP aims to address food security, reduce poverty, and improve educational outcomes in Ghana.

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