Only 134 out of 3,460 kindergarten and primary schools in the Eastern Region are benefiting from the School Feeding Programme, Mrs Rene O. Boakye-Boaten, Regional Director of Education has disclosed.
She said the figure represented only seven percent of the schools which were being catered for under the programme.
She said a recent survey conducted in the region indicated that of the 134 beneficiary schools, 61 were in the municipal and district capitals where the intervention was unnecessary.
Mrs Boakye-Boaten was speaking at the regional inauguration of the District Implementation Committees (DIC) of the School Feeding Programme in Koforidua on Tuesday.
She said one could not deny the fact that the school feeding programme had really brought great relief to parents.
"The problem of what to provide for their wards during break periods has been taken over by the feeding programme".
Mrs Boakye-Boaten observed that the programme had to a large extent minimized the rate of truancy in the piloted schools.
She said: "Pupils are assured of a hot meal whilst in school and the tendency of children not going to school because their parents could not
afford to provide them a few pesewas for food during break period had reduced".
Mrs Boakye-Boaten noted that schools not hooked to the programme were less attractive adding that parents were known to had withdrawn their wards from those schools to the ones where the feeding facilities existed.
She observed that in certain deprived communities where children had to labour or perform odd jobs to make ends meet and to acquire basic necessities, the school feeding programme had reduced their plight.
Mr Francis Gyako, Deputy National Coordinator of the School Feeding Programme, in an address read on his behalf, said there was a tremendous demand for the programme and that it was relevant to the country.
He said for that reason, government had shown strong commitment in allocating funds from the national budget to support the programme.
Mr Gyako said the inauguration of the DIC clearly attested to the fact that the success of the programme depended to a large extent on the
commitment, interest and readiness to sustain it.
He said the core mandate of the committee was to be in-charge of the programme and control its activities.
Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, Regional Minister, pleaded with the programme coordinators to extend it to more deprived areas where children needed it most.
He charged district chief executives to pay unexpected visits to the schools under the programme to put the cooks on their toes.