The Ministry of Education (MoE) says there is no food shortage in the various senior high schools across the country.

This follows the release of JoyNews’ upcoming documentary 'Empty Plates’ trailer.

According to the Ministry, they embarked on a monitoring exercise to gain a fair understanding of the issues raised so as to address them appropriately if found to be valid.

But from their tour of the various SHSs, it is evident that no food shortage has been recorded.

In a press release signed by the PRO, Kwesi Kwarteng, MoE noted that the children are being fed well and are satisfied with the quality and quantity of food they are given.

“Schools visited and reports from other schools indicated the maintenance of an adequate stock of food in their storage facilities. There is prompt and up-to-date payment of funds allocated for the purchase of perishable food items to all schools.

"Feedback from heads of schools and students indicates overall satisfaction with the quality and quantity of food being served,” part of the statement read.

• Read Also: Empty Plates: JoyNews documentary highlights shortage of foods, meal quantity at SHSs

The Ministry also added that it is open to addressing any issue of food shortage in any school if brought to its attention.

MoE reassured parents, students, and the general public of its “unwavering commitment to providing adequate, high-quality, and timely food supplies to ensure an enhanced free and quality Senior High School program.”

This comes days after JoyNews sources confirmed an acute shortage of food items in many Senior High Schools (SHS) across the country.

In the investigative documentary, "Empty Plates," produced by investigative journalist, Kwetey Nartey, students, including some authorities complain about the quantity and quality of food they are presented with.

For months, parents, teachers, and stakeholders had raised concerns about the alleged shortcomings of the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy, specifically regarding the provision of three daily hot meals to SHS students free of charge.

Subsequently, JoyNews commissioned an independent inquiry into the issues after receiving complaints from parents and individuals about the quantity of food available to students.

“We were not going to take that at face value, so we sent people into the schools to verify, and what we verified and saw is what we have put out. This is just a promo, and we were moved by the core principles of journalism, which is to do what is in the interest of the public,” JoyNews’ Channel Manager, Kwaku Owusu Peprah, explained.

“These are schools from the Northern part of the country to Oti region to Ashanti region - we covered about 10 regions in this documentary and per every research sample size for a country that has 16 regions, this is a good work,” he said.