Delay in payment to school feeding caterers, Buffer Stock Company will be detrimental – Apaak

Deputy ranking member on the Education Committee in Parliament, Dr. Clement Apaak has called on the government to settle its numerous debts owed to suppliers in the educational sector as the first $600 million IMF cash arrives.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced that it has approved a $3bn facility to help revive Ghana’s ailing economy with the first tranche of $600m hitting the government coffers on Friday May 19, 2023.

Government is optimistic this will better the lot of Ghanaians.

However, the Minority in Parliament believes otherwise.

Commenting on the IMF bailout and Education in the country, the Builsa South lawmaker has expressed concerns on what could come on Ghana’s education sector if the government neglects the sector.

“IMF Bailout and Education: a) Pay school feeding caterers, increase fee to ghc3.50p; b) Clear capitation grant arrears owed basic school (4 terms); c) Pay printers and publishers of basic school textbooks; d) Pay Buffer Stock Company food suppliers. Any further delay is detrimental!” he stated in a tweet.

Meanwhile, the IMF in its recent report on the Free Senior High School (FSHS) underscores the poor implementation and targeting of the policy.

“Ghana spends close to 4 percent of GDP on education with good results in terms of enrolment but poor learning outcomes. The flagship programme Free Senior High School (SHS), which covers the full cost of secondary education, has helped increase enrolment but is poorly targeted,” the IMF noted.

According to the IMF, “potential improvement of education spending include strengthening primary education resources, better teacher training, and stronger performance-based funding practices.”