The Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has announced the government’s decision to suspend feeding allowances for teacher trainees in colleges of education across Ghana.
Speaking at a meeting with the principals of various colleges of education in Accra, the Minister explained that the policy was unsustainable and did not align with global best practices in higher education.
He emphasized that it is not the government’s responsibility to provide meals for tertiary students, arguing that continuing the policy at this level of education is financially unfeasible.
As an alternative, the government plans to replace the feeding programme with an enhanced student loan scheme, enabling trainees to cater for their own living expenses, including meals.
“There is no justification for feeding students at the tertiary level. We must transition from the allowance system to an enhanced student loan scheme to allow them to support themselves,” he stated.
However, he assured that in the interim, trainees will still receive their allowances until the transition process is fully implemented.
This shift, according to the Minister, is aimed at ensuring the sustainability of government spending in the education sector while promoting greater financial independence among teacher trainees.
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