The President of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Jacob Anaba, has called for an audit of the enrolment figures used to determine how much food schools receive under the School Feeding Programme.
His call comes after concerns were raised by the National Coordinator of the programme, Hajia Fati Forgor, who alleged that some head teachers inflate the number of pupils in their schools to receive more food allocations.
According to her, this practice could leave schools with genuinely high enrolment and greater needs without enough support.
Speaking in an interview, Mr Anaba called for the allegations to be investigated. He said inflating enrolment figures amounts to cheating the state and should not be allowed.
“If you have been given a position to deliver something to our kids, a critical one at that, and you are inflating the figures, it means that you are cheating the system, the state, and we shouldn’t allow that to pass.
We will call for an audit to show that we can find out those who are doing that and bring them to book,” he said.
Mr Anaba also urged authorities to ensure that the meals served to pupils are nutritious enough to support their health, concentration and learning in the classroom.
“The food they give to our children in the school should be something that will nourish them, will give them the nourishment that they can be able to sustain in the classroom.”
