John Dramani Mahama has vowed to scrap the government’s provision of free food to Senior High School (SHS) students through the National Food Buffer Stock Company.
This move is part of a desperate attempt to clarify his promise to review the Free SHS policy.
Addressing a political rally, the presidential candidate for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) criticized the current centralized food procurement system, alleging that it has led to a decline in the quality of food served in schools.
He argued that delays in food deliveries from the Buffer Stock Company often leave headmasters struggling to feed students.
As a solution, Mahama promised to return financial control to school administrators, allowing them to purchase food directly from the open market.
This pledge comes amid growing calls for the NDC to clarify its position on the Free SHS policy.
The ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) has accused the NDC of planning to cancel the program under the guise of a ‘review.’
The NPP’s Free SHS policy has provided free secondary education to over five million Ghanaians in the past seven years.
However, the NDC has maintained that its proposed review would target assistance to needy but brilliant students, in contrast to the NPP’s universal approach.
Mahama’s recent promise to offer free first-year tertiary education to all students has sparked further questions about the party’s stance on the Free SHS program.
Faced with public scrutiny, the NDC has now shifted its focus to reforming the feeding arrangements within the Free SHS policy, proposing a decentralized system that gives school management control over food procurement.