Speaking on the issue in Accra on Saturday on the sidelines of an orientation programme for state owned media organisations, Mr Boadu-Ayeboafoah said the payment of debt by the Ministry of Education (MoE) would help sustain the initiative for the long term than how it was being addressed currently.

“The problem about the imminent food shortage or scarcity at SHS across the country is the fact that the buffer stock companies owe suppliers for more than eight months

“If the MoE has money, it should not take any other measures by directly involving themselves in food supply. What they ought to do is to pay suppliers outstanding debts,” he said.

According to him, the schools never faced this situation when suppliers were being paid on time, and therefore urged the ministry to address the situation as it could impact the students negatively.

The Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) across the country in a statement last week threatened to shut down due to the shortage of food for students.

It bemoaned the way and manner in which monies meant to run the school and the school feeding policy trickled in, adding that the schools would be compelled to feed students with what was available.

The MoE last week Monday in a statement said all affected schools were expected to receive full supplies on Tuesday, July 12, following a meeting between the Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum and the leadership of CHASS.

However, some schools had said they were yet to receive the supplies talked about by the minister in the said statement and had since threatened to shut down.

As the situation continued to hit hard, Parent Associations of some affected schools had moved in to offer assistance while calling on duty bearers for final find solution to the problem.