The Deputy Sierra Leonean Minister of Basic and Secondary School Education honorable Emily K. Gogra has undertaken a three-day study tour of the Ghana School Feeding programme (GSFP) in Accra. The purpose of the tour was to understudy the design, implementation, guidelines, success and challenges of the programme

The deputy minister accompanied by seven officials including top management of the country’s school feeding, other government officials and the Chief of Party of the Sierra Leonean Catholic Relief Services visited the GSFP secretariat to announce their arrival and purpose for the visit.

The minister indicated that Sierra Leone was keen on reforming her school-feeding programme in order to alleviate poverty, encourage school attendance and enrolment and eliminate streetism. She said the country thought the GSFP was the best model on the continent hence their visit to understudy the best practice and implement it in Sierra Leone.

She disclosed that her ministry and other allied institution would carefully study GSFP for a successful implementation in their country

Receiving the delegation, the Deputy minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection (the oversight ministry for GSFP) honorable Emily applauded the delegation for the choice of GSFP for the study tour. She recalled the healthy relations that exist between the two countries and said Ghana was ready to avail and offer the delegation any expert assistance and advice needed to implement school feeding in Sierra Leone.

She gave a brief over view of the programme and reiterated that the programme was part of government’s efforts in attaining the UN Sustainable Goals on education, poverty, hunger and malnutrition.

The GSFP Ag. National Coordinator, Dr. Mrs Gertrude Quashigah also briefed the delegation on the implementation strategy of the programme. She said the programme was mainly for the poorest, most deprived and vulnerable communities. She urged the delegation to adhere strictly to the their targeting criteria.

In a power point presentation, the programme’s officer for Agriculture Mr. Seth Offei took the august delegation through the design, institutional arrangements, implementation process, guidelines, success and challenges of the GSFP

The team visited a number of beneficiary schools of the programme in Tema. The purpose of the field visit was to observe and familiarize the actual and practical implementation of the programme.