The Ghana Education Service (GES) is calling on communities to support schools participating in the Ghana School Feeding Programme with proper kitchen facilities to improve food safety and hygiene.

The Service says adequate kitchens are essential for the safe preparation and serving of meals to schoolchildren, particularly as some participating schools continue to operate without suitable facilities.

The call was made at a GES workshop held to discuss challenges affecting the implementation of the programme and explore ways to improve its delivery.

Launched in 2005, the Ghana School Feeding Programme was introduced to improve food security, reduce hunger and support the nutritional needs of schoolchildren.

However, inadequate kitchen infrastructure remains a challenge in some schools.

National Coordinator of the Ghana School Feeding Programme, Hajia Fati Forgor, said the programme had engaged development partners for support, but the scale of the need required greater involvement from communities.

“Most of the schools do not have kitchens, but we have tried to reach out to development partners to see how they can help us. What they can do is just a little. We encourage communities to volunteer to do that. It is not everything the government will step in to provide. We are talking about over 12,000 schools,” she said.

She said community support would complement government efforts and help create safer environments for preparing meals for pupils.

Hajia Fati Forgor also urged caterers participating in the programme to adhere to the approved menu, which includes a range of indigenous Ghanaian meals.

She said the menu was designed to reflect local foods and cultural preferences but noted that some caterers had deviated from the prescribed meals.

“The menu that we have actually distributed across the country includes various indigenous foods. That is what identifies us as a people. We don't want foreign infiltration. Some caterers have gone out of that,” she said.

She stressed the need for caterers to follow the approved menu to ensure consistency in the meals served to pupils across the country.

The workshop brought together stakeholders to examine challenges affecting the Ghana School Feeding Programme, including food safety, infrastructure and compliance with the approved menu.

The GES says continued collaboration among government, communities, development partners and other stakeholders will be critical to improving the programme and ensuring that schoolchildren receive safe and nutritious meals.