PROVIDE SCHOOLS WITH MODERN COOKING ACCESSORIES (PAGE 35)

THE National Association of Domestic Bursars and Matrons (NADBAM) have appealed to the government to ensure that modern cooking accessories such as gas cookers and cylinders were supplied to all schools.
They observed that the continuous use of firewood in cooking large quantities of food for students over the years did not only pose a hazard to their health, but also contributed to the depletion of the forest.
According to the National Treasurer of the association, Mrs Lydia Miller, “apart from ensuring that gas is supplied regularly to the schools, another option could be to make the “Walewale” smokeless cookers available to us.”
“Widespread use of firewood in our kitchens without chimneys and other outlets for smoke is a major health hazard to members”, she further observed.
Mills Miller made the appeal at the zone one workshop of the association for the northern sector comprising the Northern, Brong Ahafo and Upper West and Upper East regions in Tamale.
The five-day workshop was on the theme: “Promoting indigenous foods in our institutional feeding”.
The event was aimed at sharpening the skills, knowledge and attitude of members to enable them to improve on their services.
The Northern Regional Director of Education, Mrs Elizabeth De-souza, urged members of NADBAM to always ensure quality and hygienic practices at their respective kitchens.
She also advised them to be conversant with the Public Procurement Act in order to avoid queries in their purchase of food items and that they must as well work cordially with both students and school authorities for industrial harmony.
The Deputy Regional Minister, Mr Moses Mabengba, described as unfortunate, the constant misunderstandings between heads of educational institutions, bursars and matrons over who had the mandate to purchase food items in the school.
“Budgeting and purchasing of food items for institutions should not only be the responsibility of heads of schools and bursars only, but the matrons also have a vital role to play since these functions fall under their domain and they must be involved in all processes until the food gets to the dinning table,” he indicated.
Mr Mabengba, who also acknowledged the continuous delay in the release of feeding grants to the schools, expressed the government’s commitment to addressing the situation.