Views of ‘School-Based Stakeholders’ of Education in the Cape Coast Metropolis on Ghana’s School Feeding Programme

Abstract

This study examined the views of ‘school-based stakeholders’ in Cape Coast Metropolis on Ghana’s school feeding programme. The study adopted the descriptive survey design and the researcher used the simple random sampling and purposive sampling techniques to select the beneficiary and non-beneficiary schools and respondents for the study. A sample of 180 respondents drawn from a beneficiary and non-beneficiary schools provided data for the study. The respondents comprised headteachers, teachers and pupils of the beneficiary and non-beneficiary schools. A questionnaire and an interview guide were the instruments used to elicit responses from the respondents. The study used the SPSS software to analyze the questionnaire data and the interview data were grouped based on similarities of responses. The study revealed that there is some level of understanding of the aims and objectives of the SFP initiative. It is recommended that there should be intensive publicity and education drive of the aims and objectives of the SFP. Secondly, the study showed that the introduction of the SFP in the studied school has contributed to increase in enrolment, attendance, reduced drop-out rates and improved retention rates. Introduction of the SFP in the non-SFP school would cause pupils to be regular, stay in school and also reduce rate of absenteeism. The study therefore recommends that Government should make the necessary efforts to bring on board all the basic schools on the SFP as a way of improving the literacy rate of the society. The findings really suggest that there are challenges bedeviling the implementation of the SFP initiative. It is therefore recommended that Government should secure funds to address the challenges to ensure the programmes sustainability.