KAKATA, Margibi – Authorities at the Kakata Community College say there has been a 2.7 percent decline in the number of students enrolled at the school after schools opened in March.

The school’s officials said the sharp drop is due to the sudden cancellation of the Ministry of Education’s school feeding initiative sponsored by the World Food Program.

In an interview with The Bush Chicken in Kakata City, the Principal of the school, Anthony Jallah said students were dropping out of school because they had no food to eat for the day.

Jallah said only a few parents can prepare meals for their children before they come to school. He added that for a child to come to school at eight o’clock in the morning and stay until two o’clock on an empty stomach is not easy.

Meanwhile, he said that the school authorities have also observed that most parents cannot afford the minimum tuition fees that are required.

According to Jallah, running the school has been challenging on every aspect because it is “almost like the entire system was broken down.”

Jallah said the program was discontinued because WFP was already distributing food to individuals in the community. He said because of that, the organizers saw no need to also feed children at the schools. He said the abrupt start of school after the Ebola outbreak might have also left WFP unprepared and contributed to the current situation.

Representatives of WFP did not respond to inquiries by press time.

The Kakata Community College is a community-based institution established in 2000 to respond to the growing educational need of the people of Kakata. Contrary to the connotation of the name, the institution is a high school.

Featured image courtesy of Ken Harper