School Feeding In Crisis in Northern Region, As Caterers Purchases Foodstuff on Credit

Caterers of the School Feeding Programme in the various Primary School's in the Northern region have registered their displeasure to Soireenews against the government's failure to pay them their outstanding arrears.

According to them, the situation had compelled them to purchase foodstuffs on credit in order to cook for the poor children.

A caterer at the Ansoria Islamic Primary School, Zainab Abu on behalf of her colleagues during a visit said "We have been cooking since school resumed with our own monies, we have not been paid, so we are appealing to the government to come to our aid else we may stop cooking any time soon."

Munira Iddi, one of the dismay  Careers at the T. I Ahmadiya Primary School noted that "because we don't want the children to stay in school with hunger, we struggle to buy the foodstuffs on credit just to satisfy the hunger of the children, we have not been paid for two terms, we are really suffering, going to market this day has become trouble for us," she bemoaned.

With one voice, the Caterers called on the Government to make funds available to them for the beauty of the Programme.

Abdallah Ibrahim, Pupil of Wataniya Primary School on his part lauded the state authorities for the Programme and urged the government to pay much attention to the needs of the caterers.

According to him, the meal served them is delicious, revealing that they are served with Jollof every Monday, Tuesday - Beans, Wednesday- rice and beans, Thursday - Jollof with every Friday being cowpea (Adowa).

However, many caterers of the program were not at post at some of the school's at the time of the visit.

The objective of the program is geared to reduce hunger among the school-going age, increase school enrolment, attendance and retention, and boost domestic food production in deprived communities of the country.

The concept of the programme is to provide pupils in public Schools with one hot nutritious meal, prepared from locally grown foodstuffs.

The schools visited in the region includes the Wataniya primary school, Nsoria primary school, St. Paul’s primary and T.I Ahmadia primary school.