The “Reset” promised to the Ghanaian people just over a year ago has hit a wall, and unfortunately, that wall is the empty stomach of the Ghanaian student. In a development that signals a frightening decline in our educational standards, the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) has issued a “red alert” that could see our secondary schools shut down in a matter of days. This follows a high-stakes meeting summoned by the Minister for Education, Haruna Iddrisu, which ended in a frustrating and total stalemate on Friday, April 17, 2026.
The facts provided by stakeholders are chilling. The future of over 1.2 million Senior High School students now hangs in a precarious balance because the government has failed to reach a consensus on how to fund the procurement of essential perishable food items like vegetables, meat, and eggs. While the Ministry of Education under Haruna Iddrisu hosted the meeting, the outcome was nothing short of a disaster, leaving headteachers with no choice but to sound the alarm.
A Year of Drastic Decline
It is barely a year since the NDC took over the reins of power with a promise to “fix” the Free SHS policy. Instead, what we are witnessing is the most significant crisis the program has seen since its inception. How can a government that claimed to have all the answers fail so spectacularly to coordinate a simple feeding schedule?
Headteachers are currently living a nightmare. Reports from the meeting indicate that school heads have been “robbing Peter to pay Paul,” using their personal funds and taking on crushing debts from local vendors just to keep students from rioting. For a Minister of Education to sit through a meeting with CHASS, the National Food Buffer Stock Company, and the GETFund, and still walk away without a resolution, speaks volumes about the lack of direction in this administration.
The Deadlock of Incompetence
The central point of contention in this deadlock is the funding for perishables. Mr. Iddrisu reportedly directed that GETFund maintain an arrangement allowing CHASS to independently source these items to avoid the usual bottlenecks. However, even this “emergency” directive could not find a consensus among the implementation agencies. When the right hand of the government does not know what the left hand is doing, it is the students who pay the price.
Inflation is eating into the already meager operational budgets of these schools, yet the government seems stuck in a loop of endless meetings and zero action. The stalemate at the Ministry’s headquarters is not just a bureaucratic hiccup; it is a clear sign that the current leadership has no grip on the realities of managing a massive social intervention like Free SHS.
The Credibility Gap
The NPP left a functioning, albeit pressured, system that ensured students stayed in school. Within just one year, the NDC has managed to bring the system to the verge of a total shutdown. The “red alert” from CHASS is more than a warning; it is a verdict on the first year of the NDC’s educational management.
While the Education Minister, Haruna Iddrisu, admits to “challenges,” the reality on the ground is a crisis. Parents are now left in a state of panic, wondering if their children will be sent home right in the middle of WASSCE preparations. If the government cannot even agree on how to buy eggs and meat for students, what exactly have they been doing for the past twelve months?
As schools move beyond private petitions to public warnings of an imminent shutdown, the Ghanaian voter is left with a bitter taste. The promises of 2024 are looking more like a mirage with every passing day of this “deadlock government.”
