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Assemblies to disburse funds for
school feeding programme
Accra, July 26, Ghanadot/GNA - Mr Stephen Asamoah Boateng,
Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and
Environment, has directed that payments under the Ghana
School Feeding Programme should be done through the
Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies as part of
the Ministry's Fiscal Decentralisation programme.
He said this would ensure that the schools received their
allocations on time.
Mr Asamoah Boateng gave the directive in a statement issued
in Accra on Wednesday and signed by Mr Frank Asante, Public
Relations Officer of the ministry.
It said the fiscal decentralisation was a programme through
which all finances were lodged with the assemblies for
disbursement to departments, agencies and institutions
operating in the metropolitan, municipal and districts.
The statement said Government with the support of the Dutch
Government had so far disbursed GHc 19,253,975
(192,539,750,000 cedis) towards the programme.
It said the programme that started in September 2005 with 10
pilot schools, currently had 975 schools with 457,693 pupils
in all 138 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs)
benefiting.
The programme is designed to provide one hot meal a day for
pre and public primary school children.
Its objectives are to increase school enrolment, attendance
and retention rates to reduce short-term hunger and
malnutrition among pre and primary school children.
The programme is also to strengthen community food
production capacities including school gardens to reduce
child morbidity among pre-school and school age children.
Others are to improve access to potable water and sanitation
facilities and to promote diversification of diets based on
locally available food with micro-nutrients supplements.
A significant aspect of the programme is the use of locally
produced and processed foodstuffs as the main source of the
meal.
GNA
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