Teacher trainees in the country’s colleges of education have promised to fight any attempt to deprive them of their three square meals each day.
It comes after the National Conference of Principals of Colleges of Education – Ghana (PRINCOF) issued a new directive in response to the government’s failure to pay six-month feeding fee arrears.
From May 8, 2022, the trainees will feed themselves according to the new directives.
This, according to PRINCOF, is the best choice for avoiding disruption in the academic cycle of the schools.
However, Jonathan Dzunu, President of the Teacher Trainees Association of Ghana (TTAG), said a meeting with the Education Ministry has been arranged for Friday, April 22, 2022, to examine the concerns.
“As students, our position is that we do not endorse PRINCOF’s decision.” The principals have reached this conclusion because they have not been provided with a feeding component as part of their allowances.
So, if you tell kids that they must eat themselves, where will they find the money? As a result, we believe that this problem should be resolved as soon as feasible. Students cannot be denied food. He stated, “We want to meet with the Ministry of Education and tell them exactly what we want them to do.”
PRINCOF’s suggestions
“Suppliers have supported their threats of not supplying any food products to Colleges with tangible action by refusing to supply Colleges with any food items unless they have been paid money,” PRINCOF said in a statement.
PRINCOF claims to have taken the following steps to ensure a smooth academic calendar:
For one week, from April 23 to April 30, 2022, Teacher trainees will be provided with two meals, breakfast and supper.
Teacher trainees instructors will only be fed lunch from May 1 to May 8, 2022.
It stated that “from May 8, trainee teachers would be required to supply their own lunches until their feeding allowances are reimbursed.”
Food vendors are being urged to boost the number of daily meals they prepare for students to purchase.
“These steps are being taken to guarantee that the academic calendar is not disrupted,” the statement concluded.
