School Feeding Programme Goes Digital, Caterers To Pay GH¢200 To Get On System

• The Ghana School Feeding Programme is set to transition from manual to digital operations
• The new system will be piloted in New Juaben South and Krachi East districts before a nationwide rollout
• Gender Minister Darkoa Newman said this transition will make the programme more efficient

The Ghana School Feeding Programme is transitioning from manual to digital operations.

Gender Minister Darkoa Newman said this transition will aid transparency and improve the programme's efficiency.

Graphic Online reported that under the new system, caterers will apply online and pay a non-refundable fee of GH¢200.

A new information management system will handle caterer selection, data collection, and payments.

It will be piloted in the New Juaben South and Krachi East districts before being rolled out nationwide before the 2024/2025 academic year.

Read also

Cedi challenges: Bawumia suggests linking local currency to Gold for long-term stability

Newman gave updates on the process at a press conference organised by the Ministry of Information.

“We're going to be running an information management system to manage the entire process. To manage the caterer selection module, the data collection module, and to manage the payments section of it. Everything will be run online going forward,” she elaborated.

Past challenges with the school feeding programme

There have been past reports of challenges that have saddled the school feeding programmes.

The Gender Ministry, at a point, had to counter claims that the School Feeding Programme has been put on hold to clear arrears

The ministry said such assertions were false and misconstrued comments by Cecilia Dapaah, the minister with oversight at the time.

It also assured that it would do its best to keep the programme on its feet.

Strike over school feeding arrears

YEN.com.gh reported that in April 2023, school feeding caterers declared an indefinite strike because of the arrears owed to them.

Read also

University workers, teachers unions call off August 9 strike over allowances

The caterers also demanded an increase in the feeding fee per child from 97 pesewas to GH¢3.50.

However, this fee was only increased from GH¢1.00 to GH¢1.20 for the 2023 academic year. Some arrears were later settled.

The School Feeding Programme has also been fraught with concerns over the quality of meals provided to primary school students.

Proofread by Berlinda Entsie, journalist and copy editor at YEN.com.gh

Source: YEN.com.gh