News:
June 19, 2026
The Member of Parliament for Atiwa East, Abena Osei-Asare, has vehemently criticized the diversion of 42% of the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to finance feeding for Senior High School (SHS) students, insisting the practice undermines the Fund’s statutory obligation to provide educational infrastructure.
Contributing to parliamentary proceedings on Thursday, June 18, 2026, while the Education Minister, Haruna Iddrisu, responded to sector-related questions, Ms. Osei-Asare acknowledged the necessity of feeding students but maintained that the GETFund is not the appropriate vehicle for such recurrent expenditure.
“Mr. Speaker, that is good because the students also have to eat… but that is not the core mandate of GETFund. GETFund’s core mandate is to help in the infrastructure of the schools,” she stated.
The MP raised the alarm over a staggering backlog of uncompleted school projects currently valued at between 8 and 10 billion cedis. She questioned the fiscal logic of channeling nearly half of the Fund’s resources toward feeding while critical construction work stalls across the country.
“If you take 42% of the allocation for this, which is not the core mandate, you ask yourself, how much do you give to them to complete the uncompleted infrastructure?” she quizzed.
Ms. Osei-Asare, who noted she has had the opportunity to visit various regions and engage with schools firsthand, urged the government to explore alternative revenue streams to sustain the SHS feeding program.
Looking ahead, the Atiwa East legislator made a passionate appeal to the Majority Leader and the Finance Minister, calling for a strategic reallocation in the upcoming 2027 national budget. She demanded that sufficient GETFund allocations be secured when the budget is presented in November to address the existing infrastructure deficit and adequately resource the Ministry of Education to fulfill its expectations.
Dominic Shirimori/Ghanamps.com