Professor Joshua Alabi, Campaign Manager for former President John Dramani Mahama, has announced the National Democratic Congress (NDC)’s plan to decentralise school feeding grants, allowing headmasters and bursars to purchase food directly from local markets.
“This will boost the local economy while ensuring students receive the nutrition they need,” he said.
Professor Alabi noted that decentralising school feeding is in line with the 1992 Constitution and not an innovation by the current New Patriotic Party (NPP) government.
Explaining the history, Prof. Alabi pointed out that the NDC laid the groundwork for Free SHS through President Mahama’s Progressive Free SHS policy, which began incrementally and prioritised necessary infrastructure.
In a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Friday, he added that the E-Block project, launched under Mahama, aimed to build more schools to address the capacity challenges associated with expanding access to secondary education. However, the NDC’s plans were interrupted following the 2016 election loss.
“The Free SHS is constitutionally mandated,” Prof. Alabi stated. “Unfortunately, some people want to take sole credit for the policy. When the NPP came to power, they implemented Free SHS abruptly, which led to significant challenges because of inadequate planning,” he explained, citing this as a contributing factor to the double-track system and overcrowding.
Prof. Alabi clarified that the NDC’s proposed review of Free SHS does not mean its cancellation. Instead, the strategy would focus on enhancing accessibility by completing all E-Blocks and extending Free SHS to private schools to alleviate pressure on public institutions.
“In addition to expanding access and decentralising food procurement, the NDC plans to address resource shortages, including textbooks, to support better learning outcomes.”
“When we create enough space, eliminate the double-track system, and ensure teachers are well-supported, students will receive a higher quality of education,” Prof. Alabi emphasised.
He urged Ghanaians to vote for Mahama in 2024, promising a refined, accessible, and effective Free SHS programme to improve educational quality and ease overcrowding in government schools.
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