Minister Lariba Zuweira Abudu, responsible for Gender, Children, and Social Protection, has affirmed that the daily feeding cost per child under the School Feeding Program will be increased from GHS0.97 to GHS1.20p.
“It was GHS1 and we have added 20p. Of course, it’s not enough but gradually it will go up. So the caterers should bear with us,” Lariba Zuweira Abudu.
The School Feeding Program is a prominent social protection initiative aligned with the government’s key policies and development strategies, including the Ghana Shared Growth Development Agenda, Ghana National Social Protection Strategy, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1, 2, 4, and 5.
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In recent years, government-appointed caterers have expressed concerns about the allocated amount of GHS0.97 per child per day. Numerous advocacy groups within the education sector have consistently urged the government to raise the allocation.
Although the caterers requested an increase to at least GHS3, Minister Lariba Zuweira Abudu clarified that GHS1.20p is the approved amount. She acknowledged that the increment is insufficient and emphasized that the Ministry will continue engaging stakeholders for further increments in the future.
During a press briefing on Sunday, June 4, the Gender Minister confirmed that the government had settled the first and second-term arrears of caterers from the 2022 academic year as of April 2023. She assured that the remaining arrears for the third term would be paid to the caterers in the coming week.
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“I want to give the assurance here that next week caterers’ arrears will be paid. We have done all the validation and auditing.
“The auditing takes time so we need time for it to be done well to ensure every caterer who has cooked has been captured and will be paid. Certainly, we will pay them and next week we are paying them,” Lariba Zuweira Abudu announced.
