JHS students would be dead if they were hungry – Education Watch to Akufo-Addo

The Executive Director of Africa Education Watch Kofi Asare says President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s claim that JHS students are complaining of hunger at their schools as a result COVID-19 measures is not backed by the facts on the grounds.

According to him, the decision of the President to provide one hot meal for students is not a prudent use of the country’s resources.

The President in his 15th COVID-19 update to the country noted he had received reports of some JHS students going hungry due to observance of the Covid-19 protocol observation.

“As a result of reports I have recently received that some final year JHS students were going hungry in complying with COVID-19 protocols. I’ve just instructed the Minister Women, Gender and Social Protection to begin preparations to ensure as from 24th August up till 18th September, all 584,000 final year JHS students and 146,000 staff both in public and private schools be given one hot meal a day,” he noted.

Reacting to the comment, Mr Asare said the President appears to be using the move as a political tool than responding to a genuine need.

“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 one 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,” he told Morning Starr sit-in host.