GES Top Officials Move To End Students' Hunger Strike

Accra (GAR), June 24, - Top officials of the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Conference of Principals of Teacher Training Colleges are meeting to find an amicable solution to the hunger strike by students of training colleges against deduction of feeding fees from their allowances. About 2,000 students of the Bagabaga and the Tamale Teacher Training Colleges have been on a hunger strike since last Wednesday as a protest against the new feeding arrangement in the two colleges. Mr Alex N. Tettey-Enyo, Deputy Director-General of the GES, told the Ghana News Agency in an interview in Accra today that the action by the students is spreading very fast from the North to the other regions. The GES is, therefore, holding a series of meetings to arrive at the most suitable solution to stem the tide. Mr Tettey-Enyo expressed the hope that whatever the meeting would come out with would be acceptable to the students and the principals of the training colleges. He said there are 38 teacher training colleges in the country and the GES would not rpt not do anything that would disrupt the academic pursuits of the students. The authorities at the training colleges have implemented the new feeding fee of 1,500 cedis a day for every boarding student with effect from April while the students are insisting on being fed on the old budget of 800 cedis.