Dr Clement Apaak, a member of Parliament’s Education Committee, has said that the Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, should apologize to Ghanaians for the delay in releasing funds to Colleges of Education to feed students.
On Wednesday, April 20, the Ghanaian government released a sum of 67 million to Ghanaian colleges of education.
This comes after the National Conference of Principals of Colleges of Education – Ghana (PRINCOF) stated that it would be unable to continue feeding trainees due to the government’s massive debts.
Addressing a press conference in Accra on Wednesday April 20, Education Minister Dr Adutwum said “I am very happy to inform you that government has released ¢67, 942, 652 to Colleges of Education. I know you may have read media reports, there were many calls on us to respond to concerns of PRINCOF. We want to let the country know that the President of the Republic, the Finance Minister and all those who have work hard to ensure various promises made to Colleges of Education are carried through, have delivered on their promise. That is why this amount has been released to Colleges of Education.”
The Executive Secretary of PRINCOF, Dr. Harriet Naki Amui in an earlier letter dated Tuesday, April 19, 2022 sent to the Minister of Education directed that teacher trainees must start to fund their own feeding from May 8, if funds are not made available to them.
This directive has been necessitated in response to the inability of Colleges of Education to make payments for food items supplied to them.
The statement said food suppliers continued delivering supplies to these Colleges of Education for months without payment but they have finally withdrawn their services till they receive the monies owed them.
“Most Colleges now have food items that can last only one week if students are to be provided with three (3) meals a day,” PRINCOF said.
The PRINCOF statement therefore made the following four proposals which take effect on April 23.
“Trainee teachers will be provided with two meals, breakfast and supper only for one week, from April 23 to April 30, 2022, that, Trainee teachers from May 1 to May 8, 2022 shall be given lunch only, that, after May 8, trainee teachers would be asked to provide their own meals until their feeding allowances have been paid and finally, “food vendors will be encouraged to increase the quantity of daily meals they cook for sale to students”.
The statement added that “all these measures are meant to ensure that there is no disruption of the academic calendar”.
Commenting on this development on the Sunrise show on 3FM with Alfred Ocansey, Dr Apaak who is also lawmaker for Builsa South said “Why should the minister say we should applaud them to do what they should have done? The resources have been allocated already to the colleges of education. They should rather be apologizing to us.”
