The Danish Children Fund, in collaboration with Hansen Road Seventh-Day Adventist School (SDA School), has constructed a dining shed for pupils at the Ayalolo Cluster of Schools in Accra.

The facility serves as a dedicated space for school feeding caterers to prepare and serve meals, addressing the previous lack of a suitable dining area, which had compelled pupils to eat under trees or in their classrooms.

The structure was commissioned by Madam Justine Ivy Apawu, Accra Metropolitan Education Director, alongside representatives of the Fund, the SDA School, and authorities from the Ayalolo Cluster.

Madam Apawu said the facility provides relief to both caterers and pupils by offering a safe, hygienic, and conducive space for eating.

“It will also help them to know how to eat at a dining table. So that when they go to Senior High School, they would have already started practising it,” she stated.

She appealed to other organisations and philanthropists to support the school, noting that the compound and buildings, established in the 1950s, have not undergone any major renovations, particularly in painting and roofing.

Mr Henry Permington Quaye, Headmaster of Hansen Road SDA School, explained that the project resulted from a longstanding partnership with the Fund.

He said a visit to the Ayalolo Cluster revealed that many pupils were taking their meals under trees and along the school verandas.

Mr Quaye confirmed that the Danish Children Fund provided 70 per cent of the funding for the dining shed, while the SDA School contributed the remaining 30 per cent.

He also highlighted the Fund’s ongoing support, which includes fee sponsorship for around 130 pupils and the provision of school facilities, such as a library.