The Corporate Ladies’ Association of Ghana (CoLAG) on Friday paid a courtesy call on the Ladies in Parliamentary Service (LIPS) to intro­duce the association to them.

The visit was also to share expe­riences and encourage LIPS to join CoLAG.

The Deputy Clerk, Information Management Services, Dr Mrs Gloria Sarku Kumawu, said the formation of LIPS has been on the table for a long time until the last parliament where some strong ladies came togeth­er with the support of the female Members of Parliament to see to its inauguration.

Dr Kumawu said with support from the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, the asso­ciation celebrated the International Women’s Day (IWD) with the women caucus in parliament.

She stated that, the association was looking forward to a conference towards the end of the year as well as other programmes to improve the lot of its members.

According to the Deputy Clerk, together, CoLAG and LIPS have a lot to do regarding women advocacy, support for young women, mentor­ship and many others to encourage members.

Lady Rev. Dr Eunice Agyarko-Mint­ah, a member of CoLAG, said the aim of CoLAG was to unite and empower women, explaining that when women unite, they share ideas, drive innova­tion and enhance productivity.

She also mentioned that, the asso­ciation aims to promote gender equi­ty and promote sustainable develop­ment in their various institutions.

“We wish to create a platform for all institutional women to share ideas and develop one another,” Rev. Dr Agyarko-Mintah said.

She mentioned the three pillars of CoLAG as leadership, mentorship and women empowerment, adding that the association aims to train members on leadership, communica­tion and system thinking skills while helping the younger women to get to the top.

The treasurer, Maame Clarke said so far, 25 ladies associations have joined CoLAG and was hoping to reach out to more ladies associations.

She gave the history of CoLAG and urged LIPS to come on board to become a formidable force on the women front

 There is no doubt that the recent holidays that Ghanaians enjoyed because of the Eid ul Fitr festival provided them with a welcome opportunity to relax as the weekend ended to Tuesday.

Despite that, some were ex­tremely happy because for many parents whose wards attend private schools, it was a welcome break from having to pay the school feed­ing fee for at least two days.

This was the basis for some parents’ praise of the extra holi­day that was added to the Eid ul Fitr celebrations in addition to the weekend.

Our reporter’s interviews showed that many parents, particularly those with two or three children, now find it extremely difficult to pay the school feeding fee despite their desire to let their children be in private schools.

Such parents with lower incomes have embraced holidays because according to the Head of a school some parents always approach school officials when a holiday is approaching, knowing that there will be a day without the dreaded meal cost.

Although most schools do not require children to buy school food at all cost and allow them to bring food from home, it has become common for these children to refuse to eat food prepared by parents.

Although it appears that parents are satisfied with the services pro­vided to their children, they contin­ue to complain about the high cost, which they believe is excessive and relate it to the high price of food.

According to the Spectator’s checks with certain parents and schools children are charged be­tween GH¢15 and GH¢20 each day for the food that is supplied to them.

In addition to school tuition, books, food, and snacks, a mother of three finds it outrageous to spend GH¢60 a day for a feeding cost, which adds up to GH¢300 a week.

It was obvious that she was real­ly satisfied about the recent holi­days as she saved a total of GH¢120 Ghana.

A caterer told The Spectator that, aside from the difficulty they face in creating a budget that works for schools, they cannot be held re­sponsible for the rise in the cost of the meals served to schoolchildren because of the high cost of food items on the market.

To ease their burden, The Spectator is urging schools to grant parents with two children or more a discount. Single parents have even expressed that it is difficult to pay Gh¢150 every week.

Additionally, schools should culti­vate some area for farming activi­ties in order to support the feeding of schoolchildren. Then, they can use the produce to complement the children’s meals.

Getting the children involved will help them develop the agricultural habit so they may carry that enthu­siasm into their future endeavours.

Purchasing food in bulk is one strategy that caterers might use to lower the feeding charge in addition to cultivating a habit of farming to supplement school feeding.

Ingredients

-One cup of flour

-5 eggs

-One tin of milk

– Half cup of sugar

-1 tablespoonful of vanilla

-1 litre of oil

Preparation

– Pour flour and eggs in a bowl. ( break the eggs and beat until it is very smooth).

– Mix till there are little or no lumps.

– Add milk, salt and sugar, stir well.

– Set the frying pan to medium heat and add very little of the vegetable oil.

– Pour some of the pan­cake into the heated oil.

– Use a spatula and cook for another 2 minutes un­til it turns golden brown.

 By Linda Abrefi Wadie