Senior High Schools (SHS) in Ghana are facing severe food shortages, forcing students to eat the same meals up to three times a day. This crisis, stemming from a lack of government funding since August 16, 2024, has compelled some schools to purchase perishable items like tomatoes, onions, and fish on credit.
Despite these efforts, schools continue to struggle with securing basic food supplies due to mounting debts to suppliers, making it difficult to buy essentials such as ginger, sausages, and cooking salt. Salamatu Braimah, National Chairman of the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU), voiced deep concerns over the issue, highlighting the challenges staff face as they try to provide for students.
“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,” Madam Braimah shared in an interview with JoyNews. She added, “Living on the same diet every day is troubling.”
This is not the first instance of food shortages in Ghanaian senior high schools. Earlier in March 2024, a JoyNews Hotline Documentary titled “Empty Plates: The Free SHS Promise” uncovered similar shortages, sparking outrage among beneficiaries of the Free SHS policy. Many parents urged the government to consider decentralizing the food supply system to prevent future shortages and improve the consistency and variety of meals provided in schools.
