The Binduri Community Day Senior High School in the Upper East Region, which was closed down temporarily last week, reopened on Monday for academic work to continue.
Last Tuesday, the school was temporarily shut down after some irate students made up of first and second-year students abandoned classes to protest against the inability of the school’s caterer to provide them with one hot meal for more than a month.
The aggrieved students said the caterer had not been able to cook for the students since May 29, 2023, hence their decision to register their displeasure about the situation for it to receive immediate action.
The caterer, Mary Nyaaba, was unable to cook for the students owing to the non-payment of arrears owed her by the government, which made it very difficult for her to get food supplies to provide food for the students.
The agitated students said it was unacceptable for them to be denied the meal, which was enjoyed by all day students and complained about eating the same menu for the whole week without any variation.
The District Director of the Ghana Education Service (GES), John Soka Jaggery’s appeals to the students to end the protest and return to the classroom with an assurance that their concerns would be addressed were not heeded to.
Subsequently, Mr Jaggery temporarily shut down the school and asked the students to go home until their concerns were attended to before the school would be reopened.
Immediate action
The Daily Graphic had gathered that since the incident happened, the arrears owed the caterer had been paid by the government through the instrumental role by the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Abdulai Abanga.
Additionally, the MP donated 25 bags of rice to the caterer to enable her to vary the food served the students, which hitherto was the only kind of food provided them for the whole week.
As a result, the final year students, who were currently in school preparing for this year’s West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) were served with jollof rice by the caterer last Friday, July 14, 2023.
Issues being addressed
Addressing the final year students, Mr Jaggery said apart from the food issue, other concerns raised by the students during protest had been addressed, saying, “the issue of a place of convenience for them to use is being attended to”.
He added that the physical education vest, which was also raised was ready and that it would be given out for use by the students and stressed that all the grievances would be tackled head-on for the students to be satisfied.
One of the students who spoke to the media said, “I wish to thank all stakeholders for taking swift steps to resolve the food issue as it was a great source of worry to the students in the school”.
He said, “I must say that I was feeling unwell, but I suddenly felt better when I heard that we would be provided food today”.
ALSO READ: