Sunyani, Sept. 23, GNA – Mr. Andrews Obeng, Headmaster of Nyamaa Basic Schools in Sunyani on Thursday lauded the School Feeding Programme as “a very good initiative worth commending and needs to be sustained”.

He stated that the programme had led to a significant increase in enrolment at the school with the initial pupil population jumping from 301 to more than 400.

Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Sunyani, he however called on the Government to construct dining halls for basic schools benefiting from the programme.

“It’s not good at the moment as pupils take their meals in the classrooms. They eat and soil the tables and desks, creating an unpleasant scene in the classrooms”, he stated.

According to Mr. Obeng, the School Feeding Programme had also helped to confine pupils within the walls of the school adding, hitherto they walked the streets to get whatever they wanted “which is sometimes risky”.

He called for the extension of the programme to ensure that kindergarten school children were, like their primary counterparts kept within the school compound.

Asked whether or not the programme had achieved its purpose since its introduction, he responded in the affirmative, adding, “in my school for instance, there’s been significant increase in the number of pupils and the programme has helped to keep pupils on the school’s premises”.

Touching on the quality and quantity of meals served at the school, he said the quality sometimes appeared deceptive or low, “however they give me and staff sample to taste”.

“The caterers give me information about the quantity and quality of the meal even though on paper it is not allowed. This is just to let teachers know what is being prepared and served.

“The meals served include Gari and Beans, Rice and Kontomire (cocoyam leaves) stew or palaver sauce, Banku and Okro soup Meat is usually ground before used in stews and soups so that everyone of the many pupils could enjoy the protein”, he added.

He said recently, when school re-opened and following reports by organizers to suspend the running of the programme in the cities and replaced in deprived or rural communities, attendance dropped slightly but steadily picked up after discussion on retaining the programme in the schools with the Sunyani Municipal Assembly authorities ended on a positive note.