Feeding JHS students not tokenism – Hadzide

Deputy Information Minister Pius Enam Hadzide has dismissed claims that President Akufo-Addo’s decision to provide one hot meal for JHS students is tokenism.

It comes after education centred NGO Africa Education Watch described the decision by the president as waste of public resources.

“No one has told us that they are hungry; nobody has complained. We have been around the country, nobody has complained, I think we are political season this is tokenism. We are not being prudent, we are not prioritizing our expenditure. If the students were hungry, they would have been dead by now because they’ve been in school for 1 month."

“Feeding JHS and SHS students is not in line with education. As I said, it’s tokenism. It’s not true that foods are not being sold around schools and students are hungry,” Executive Director of Africa Education Watch Kofi told Morning Starr sit-in host Lantam Papanko.

Reacting to the comment, Mr. Hadzide said the President is feeding the students because there is a real need to.

“I disagree and I will not begrudge people who say the students are not hungry in school. I don’t know what their data is and. People must not confuse Ghana to be Accra. You can not describe government’s decision to feed students as tokenism.

“I don’t begrudge an NGO for saying it’s tokenism. We can pardon their ignorance. I am not too sure what their data is and who they are talking to,” he said.