A new Free SHS shortage of food, poor meal quality, and quantity served to students in public SHSs have been exposed by JoyNews in its latest investigations, dubbed “Empty Plates.”
According to the JoyNesw report sighted by Ghana Education News, there is currently an acute shortage of food items in many Senior High Schools (SHS) across the country.
The current situation has come to the attention of parents, teachers, and stakeholders who have 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.
While the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service will want the general public to disregard such reports, the truth remains factual: all is not well with the Free SHS, and issues relating to the quality and quantity of food served to students in boarding houses leave much to be desired.
The latest investigative piece by JoyNews provides fresh details on feeding in SHSs and suggests serious defects that could undermine the effective implementation of the Free SHS policy.
The investigative documentary, “Empty Plates,” produced by investigative journalist Kwetey Nartey, presents evidence of an acute shortage of food items in many senior high schools nationwide.
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During President Akufo-Addo’s 2024 State of the Nation Address in Parliament on Tuesday, February 27, he called on those arguing about the Free SHS policy, which is in its 8th year after implementation in 2017, to channel their efforts towards improving the policy. In his view, the debate about the Free SHS policy must stop
He hinted that the implementation of the Free SHS policy has had a transformative impact.
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“Mr Speaker, Free SHS might be labelled by its detractors as a mere political slogan that must be demonised, but it is, in fact, a transformative programme that has broken myths and liberated minds.
“I am proud that the NPP government, under my leadership, has been able to bring this transformative policy into our education system. Mr Speaker, I believe the success of the Free SHS has answered its critics, and the arguments about it should cease, and we should simply concentrate on finding ways to improve it.”
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Full Sad Video: New Free SHS shortage of food and poor meal quality exposed