Edudzi Tamaklo, acting Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority, addressed key concerns surrounding the implementation of the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy.
Reflecting on campaign promises made by former President John Dramani Mahama, Tamaklo emphasized the need to resolve pressing issues, particularly in relation to school feeding.
Tamaklo recalled that during his campaign, Mahama stressed the importance of addressing challenges related to feeding in schools in an interview on The Big Issues on TV3 monitored by MyNewsGH.
He believes that empowering schools to source food locally is essential to not only address the feeding issue but also stimulate local economies. “Schools have always been an integral part of growing the local economy,” he said. “If you empower the schools adequately, they begin to source everything within their localities, which helps grow the local economy.”
Tamaklo highlighted that local sourcing of food would reduce unnecessary bureaucratic delays. He criticized the current system where food is centrally distributed, arguing that it creates logistical hurdles that could easily be avoided.
“I always ask my school in Quant Secondary… why should the Headmaster of Inant Secondary School leave his community, where they grow the finest ‘Gary’ in the country, to buy it in Accra?” Tamaklo questioned.
He pointed out the illogicality of schools needing to purchase items such as rice and ‘Gary’ from distant locations when these products are readily available within their local communities.
According to Tamaklo, a clear directive has already been issued by the Ghana Education Service to ensure that food distribution processes will be decentralized. This policy change will allow regional directors to enforce more efficient systems.
“The situation where food distribution is so centralized creates its own bureaucratic bottlenecks,” he said. “This directive will be enforced, and I am very confident that it will bring change.”
Tamaklo’s remarks tie into broader efforts to improve the Free SHS policy and ensure that promises made by Mahama during the campaign are fulfilled.
He reiterated that this commitment would contribute to a better, more efficient educational system. “We are clearing our minds that when it comes to double-track, we will abolish it,” Tamaklo affirmed.
