Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang has condemned the government for distributing expired rice to schools in the country. In a recent public statement, the former Minister of Education called on the government to be concerned about the health implications for students and take responsibility to ensure quality assurance of food supplied to schools.
The incident was described as "unacceptable and alarming" by Prof. Opoku-Agyemang, an academic who has been vocal consistently on improved standards of education and the welfare of students. She said such an action by a government was a failure of leadership and responsibility. Grains of rice, some of which were reportedly past their expiry dates, were allegedly doled out to a number of schools under the government's school feeding program aimed at providing nutritional meals to students.
"This is not only a matter of poorly prepared or manufactured food; it is one of compromising the health of our future leaders. How can we expect that our children will face up to academic tasks if we do not secure for them the basic needs, including healthy food?," Opoku-Agyemang wondered. She insisted such negligence in handling public assets could make the government's argument for credibility in education unwinnable.
The issue came to light after concerned teachers and school administrators pointed out the expired rice, which had begun to emit foul odors and was visibly discolored. Parents and community members have also expressed outrage over the incident, demanding that the government take swift action to prevent similar occurrences in the future.
Following this criticism, the Ministry of Education has assured the people that it will investigate this issue and bring the offenders to account. They have assured them that in the future, there shall be some mechanism developed through which quality and safety for food supplied to the school can be ensured.
However, Prof. Opoku-Agyemang pressed in her statement that this is not an isolated incident, and that the government must quickly come up with strong oversight mechanisms to prevent any future mishaps at school feeding programs.
The controversy once again points out those lingering concerns about the management of public resources and the government's commitments to student welfare, within the wide reforms taking place in education.
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