The Teacher Trainees Association of Ghana (TTAG) has expressed disappointment in the government for the inability to provide funds for their feeding.
This is because, the National Conference of Principals of Colleges of Education – Ghana (PRINCOF) has directed that teacher trainees start to fund their own feeding from May 8.
This directive is in response to the inability of Colleges of Education to make payments for food items supplied to them.
PRINCOF explains that food suppliers who had continued delivering supplies to these Colleges of Education for months without payment have finally withdrawn their services till they receive the monies owed them by the government.
It says most of the Colleges have food items that can last only one week from now if students are to be provided with three square meals a day.
Therefore, PRINCOF has provided the following menu:
Trainee teachers will be provided with two meals [breakfast and supper] only for one week, effective, April 23 to April 30, 2022.
Trainees’ teachers will from May 1 to May 8, 2022, be served one meal [lunch only].
Then after May 8, trainee teachers would be asked to provide their own meals until their feeding allowances have been paid, a letter to the Education Ministry, signed by the Executive Secretary of PRINCOF, Dr. Harriet Naki Amui, explained.
Reacting to the development on 3FM’s Sunrise hosted by Alfred Ocansey on Wednesday, the President of the Teacher Trainees Association of Ghana (TTAG), Jonathan Dzunu, said “we are not happy at all. We are not in support of the decision”.
“Where will the students get the money from? Allowances have not been paid for seven months so if you ask students to feed themselves, ask yourself, where will they get the money from?”
Mr. Dzunu said “let us solve it right now before it is too late and we are making arrangements to meet the Education Ministry”.
“They [PRINCOF] are saying their hands are tight so the bus stops with the government so we plan to meet the Ministry on Friday because the situation needs an urgent solution”.
He said “we are given just GHS400 of which GHS200 goes into the feeding while the GHS200 comes to the students”.
