The Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) has released three cheques totalling GH₵199,471,691 to settle arrears of perishable supplies for free senior high schools (FSHSs) and technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions.
The disbursement covered arrears to suppliers for the period October 2025 to February 2026 for FSHS and October to December 2025 for TVET.
Govt commitment
A statement issued by the GETFund said the payment reaffirmed the government’s commitment to honouring obligations to service providers who supported feeding and logistics for FSHSs and TVET institutions nationwide.
It said the release was expected to ease operational pressures on suppliers and ensure the uninterrupted delivery of essential perishable items to students under both programmes.
It stated that GETFund remained committed to timely payments and sustained collaboration with stakeholders to strengthen educational service delivery across the country.
The release of the funds is expected to address the anxiety within the secondary education sector following recent concerns over feeding and procurement matters.
Confirming the release, the Head of Public Relations, the Ghana Education Service (GES), Daniel Fenyi, said, “Management of the GES wishes to inform the general public, particularly stakeholders in the education sector, that the outstanding funds for the procurement of perishable food items for SHSs/SHTSs across the country have been released to the service.”
He said management had initiated processes to ensure the efficient distribution of the funds to the various schools.
Mr Fenyi gave an assurance that monitoring and accountability mechanisms had been put in place to ensure that the funds were utilised judiciously and solely for their intended purpose.
“Management of the service assures all stakeholders of its unwavering dedication to the welfare of students and the continuous improvement of educational outcomes across the country,” he said.
High-level meeting
Last week, the Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, convened a high-level closed-door meeting to discuss persistent procurement and payment delays affecting the supply of perishable food items and recurrent expenditures for senior high schools, which stakeholders warned could disrupt feeding and school operations if not addressed urgently.
The meeting was attended by the leadership of the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS), representatives of the Conference of Principals of Technical Institutions (COPTI), officials from the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) Secretariat, the GETFund Administrator, the GETFund Board
Chairman and other stakeholders within the secondary school feeding and procurement chain.
It reportedly ended without a firm resolution as participants agreed on the need for further consultations to address procurement and funding challenges, particularly those affecting the feeding of students under the Free SHS programme.
However, shortly after the meeting, a section of the media started speculating that there was tension between the Administrator of the GETFund, Paul Adjei, and the Minister of Education.
The reports had it that the GETFund Administrator allegedly defied a directive by the minister to the effect that GETFund should maintain the existing arrangement that allows CHASS to independently procure perishable food items to support feeding operations.
Role of GETFund
Per the 2026 budget, GETFund is the source of funding for the Free SHS programme with a total budget allocation of GH¢4.2 billion, representing roughly 42 per cent of the total GETFund resources, which is intended to cover school meals and operational costs.
With GETFund being the dedicated funding source now, the issue of lack of funds for the running of the various secondary schools is expected to be a thing of the past.
source:- graphic.com
