The Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) has held a one-day workshop in Tamale, Northern Region for caterers on hygiene as well as other guidelines pertaining to the programme.

This is to improve the conditions under which food is prepared for schoolchildren.

About 222 caterers and their cooks were assembled at the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) hall in Tamale on Thursday, 26 April 2016 and taken through the training.

Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the programme, the deputy Director of Monitoring and Evaluation responsible for the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions, Miriam Ninepense, explained that the workshop was to enhance the knowledge and skills of the caterers.

She said the training was to inform all newly-recruited caterers about the dos and don’ts of the School Feeding programne.

“We have to tell them what they are supposed to do and what not to do, give them information on nutritional requirements, the hygienic purposes and the purpose of the school feeding; the reason why we have given the contracts to them,” she stressed.

She noted that the school feeding secretariat anticipates further improvement from the current conditions, especially with the caterers.

She, however, disputed claims that the amount of money paid per head in a day is not sufficient. She argued that once the caterers cook in bulk, the amount of one Ghana cedi paid per child is enough for the programme.