The Chairman of the Greater Accra Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS), Paul Amoasi Baidoo, has expressed worry about the unavailability of food items to feed students in Senior High Schools (SHS) in Accra. 

“Greater Accra has only rice to feed the students, which will not be sufficient in the coming days. We do not have maize, beans, and other ingredients for the schools in the region,” he lamented. 

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Mr Amoasi said he sent the needs of the schools and outstanding bursaries to the regional director of CHASS for prompt action. 

He said these challenges made the national leadership of CHASS appeal to the government to postpone the reopening of the school to January 3, 2025, but to no avail. 

Mr Amoasi, also the Headmaster of St. Thomas Aquinas SHS, said, “My school, which is a day school, only serves hot meals for the students.” 

He said other boarding schools like Labone SHS, Accra Girls SHS, and others provide only rice to the students for breakfast, lunch, and supper. 

The situation, he stressed, was dire, and he indicated that if by Monday, January 13, 2025, nothing was done to address the shortage of rice in stock, there would be no food to feed the students. 

He supported the appeal by the National Leadership of CHASS for parents to assist in feeding their wards in school. 

A communiqué signed by Mr Primus Baro, CHASS National Secretary, on December 18, 2024, highlighted the financial challenges faced by schools, which persist despite previous communications and verbal assurances from the government. 

A statement signed by Cassandra Twum Ampofo, Head of the Public Relations Unit, Ghana Education Service, announced that the SHS students would report to school on Friday, January 3, 2025. 

The Service stressed that the primary and Junior High Schools would reopen on Wednesday, January 8, 2025. 

The statement said the leadership of the Service was engaging with the Ministry of Education to resolve the concerns of CHASS.