Senior High Schools (SHS) continue to struggle with severe food shortages, with students now forced to eat the same meals up to three times daily.
The crisis caused by the lack of government funds since August 16, 2024, has driven some schools to buy perishable items such as tomatoes, onions, and fish on credit.
However, schools still find it difficult to purchase basic supplies like ginger, sausages, and cooking salt; this is due to mounting debts with suppliers.
The National Chairman of the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU), Salamatu Braimah, expressed concern over the situation.
According to her, many school staff members feel helpless in the face of these ongoing challenges. Madam Braimah explained that while some food is available, the lack of variety is alarming.
“Some schools rely solely on rice, with students consuming rice water in the morning and rice meals for both lunch and dinner. A few have tom brown, yet others lack even maize supplies,” she noted. “Living on the same diet every day is troubling,” she told JoyNews.
This is not the first time senior high schools in Ghana have faced a shortage of food items. In March 2024, JoyNews in its Hotline Documentary, titled ‘Empty Plates:
The Free SHS Promise,’ revealed an acute shortage of food items in many SHSs across the country. This caused a major uproar among beneficiaries of Free SHS, with many parents calling on the government to decentralize the food supply system.
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Empty Plates: Joy News documentary highlights shortage of foods, meal quantity at SHSs