Kotingli (N/R), Nov. 17, GNA - Mr. Mohammed Amin Adam, the Tamale Metropolitan Chief Executive, has warned cooks and head teachers not to divert foodstuffs meant for the school-feeding programme. He said experience had shown that most feeding programmes initiated had collapsed due to pilfering by cooks and heads of schools. He said the Assembly would therefore deal rigorously with any person caught and appealed to community members to monitor the activities of the cooks and head teachers to ensure the sustainability of the programme.

Mr. Adam said this when he launched the Ghana School Feeding Programme for the Kotingli Presbyterian Primary School at Kotingli, a suburb of Tamale on Thursday.

He appealed to the Ghana School Feeding Programme Secretariat to add four more schools in the Tamale Metropolis to the programme.

Mr. Salifu Sule, the Northern Regional Monitoring Officer of the Programme, said the government spent 927 million cedis monthly in the feeding of school children from the 36 beneficiary schools in the region.

He said by the implementation of the programme, the government had demonstrated its commitment to making the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) a reality.

Mr. Mohammed Nashiru, an Assistant Director at the Metro Education Office, said enrolment in Kotingli Presbyterian Primary School had gone to 140 pupils, having dwindled to 90 after the Catholic Relief Service (CRS) stopped a similar programme for the school.