Using Mobile Technology to Monitor Implementation of the Ghana School Feeding Programme

Community Volunteers and Officers in charge of the implementation of the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) at the Bole and Sawla Districts of the Northern Region of Ghana have been trained to use short messaging services (SMS) on their mobile phones to report and respond to issues affecting beneficiaries and service providers of the GSFP.

The training was organized by Partners in Participatory Development (PAPADEV) as part of activities of the “Strengthening Anti-Corruption Drive in Basic Schools in Bole and Sawla-Tuna-Kalba Districts of the Northern Region” Project.

The one-year project is supported by STAR-Ghana under its Anti-Corruption Call with funding from the UKAid, DANIDA and the European Union (EU). The overall objective of the project is to contribute to a reduction in corrupt practices associated with the implementation of the GSFP, the capitation grant and teacher absenteeism within the Bole and Sawla-Tuana-kalba Districts of the Northern region.

Children within the project Districts walk an average of 3 kilometres to school. The afternoon meal provided by the School Feeding Programme serves as a relief or motivation for the children to go to school daily. PAPADEV’s monitoring of 2,700 graduates who transitioned from the Complementary Basic Education (CBE) Programme to the regular schools indicated that: where there was little or no feeding from the School Feeding Programme: a significant number of the school children, particularly girls, did not attend school regularly. A situation which affects their academic performance and, in some instances, leads to school dropout.

Participants at the training were sensitized on corruption, particularly around the School Feeding Programme and its effect on education and the nation at large. Based on these learning, participants were taken through the relevance of information sharing, core principles and ethics of reporting, as well as some tit bits of mobile phone security to facilitate an effective process of using their mobile phones to provide feedback on the implementation of the GSFP within the selected Districts.

Participants can now anonymously report issues of poor quality and quantity of food served, frequency of meals served on weekly basis among others, though text messaging – sent directly to the mobile phones of Officers of the GSFP within the two Districts for their attention. The SMS Platform allows both parties – the reporter and the duty bearer to rate the level of satisfaction of responses received and the relevance of the reports received respectively.

Desk Officers in charge of the GSFP at the two Districts embraced the platform as a useful tool to support their work: “It is a wonderful platform, I wish it could give access to everybody in the community including the caterers. This will reduce the frequent visits we receive in our offices” Jacob Bakari, Bole District GSFP Desk Officer.

In attendance were representatives of PAPDEV, the Bole and Sawla-Tuana-kalba District Assemblies and STAR-Ghana.

My dream of becoming a becoming a nurse, an account of Zolle Rukaya, a 19-year-old teenage mother

My name is Zolle Rukaya, I am 19 years old and was born in Du-west a community in the Sissala West District in the Upper West Region. I started my basic school in Du-west. My parents were very supportive, though not rich they tried very hard to provide my basic needs and everything I needed to have good and quality education. Everything was going on very well with me until I gained admission into senior high school.

In my first year in high school, my colleague student expressed interest in becoming my boyfriend which I agreed to. After the first term in school, I came home for holidays only to realize I was pregnant and so I could not go back to school. My parents were very angry with me and vowed not to take care of me any longer. I stay at home and was later delivered of a baby boy but my parents were no longer supportive as they used to be and so life became very difficult for me and my child.

I got to know about the let girls learn; end child marriage project when my parents attended a community meeting organised by Community Development Alliance (CDA-Ghana). I did not really know what was discussed at the meeting but my parents’ attitude began to change towards me. This made me curious so I began finding out from other people who attended the meeting, to know what was discussed to enable such changes in my parents’ attitude toward me. I later got to know from a participant that the effect of teenage pregnancy and child marriage on the parents, the child, the community and the nation at large and the need for collective action as a community to stop the practice were some of the issues discussed at the meeting. She also added that parents were encourage to send back their children to school even after delivery stating that the law permits young girls who are pregnant to stay in school and not to be sacked from school.

I was very excited about the information and also understood the reason for my parents’ sudden change in behaviour toward me. My parents continued to attend meetings and programs organize by CDA-Ghana.
One day, my father asked me if I wanted to go back to school. You should have seen my reaction. I replied in the affirmative beaming with smiles at the thought of a second chance however, I had a second thought because my child was still breast feeding and I wasn’t sure how to manage the whole situation. My father encouraged me to still go to school and come back home during the breaks to breastfeed my child since the school is not far from home. I have re-enrolled in basic school form 3 to take the BECE exams again in order to be placed for senior high school.

I am so happy I am back to school to join and write the BECE. In the school, I attended a forum organized by CDA-Ghana for young girls and that meeting has served as an eye opener for me. I have also learnt a lot of ways that I can use to prevent unwanted pregnancy. CDA-Ghana also supported me with school materials for having the courage to go back to school after delivery as a form of motivation. I am so grateful to CDA-Ghana because I thought all hope was lost until this project was initiated. It has helped me realize the need to pursue my goal of becoming a nurse even after giving birth. The only challeng I face now is combining studies and coming home every break period to breast feed my child but I will sial through.

Community Development Alliance (CDA) is a STAR-Ghana partner implementing the end chil marriage; let girls learn project under the Gender Equality and Social Inclusion call.