The Minister of Education, Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh, has said the reopening of schools in Ghana will be contingent on the nature of the spread of COVID-19 in the country.
In an interview on Thursday, 13 August, 2020 Dr Opoku Prempeh said, “we will go back to school if the virus allows us.”
He added that, the decision will be grounded in science and data on the COVID-19 situation in the country as presented to government by its experts.
“So depending on the science and data, we will reopen schools.”
The Minister indicated that, government is reluctant to heed to the calls of some sections of society to reopen the schools because, when schools reopened for final year students to write their examinations, the government received a lot of backlash.
“Had it not been that the government was sound of what it was doing they would have given up. All these people saying we should open schools, those people will not be there if we open and an incident happens.”
Last month, a Deputy Education Minister, Dr. Yaw Adutwum, argued against the closure of schools in the country.
He asserted the need for Ghana to avoid a backlog of students in schools even though COVID-19 has disrupted academic calendars.
However, the number of COVID-19 cases in the country is rising by the day. Out of the 41,725, total number of cases recorded, 39,495 people have recovered with 223 losing their lives to the virus. Regardless, government is optimistic about its efforts in tackling the pandemic. This is largely because, the number of people who have recovered from the virus in comparison to other countries is very high.
Even the Education Minister has contracted and recovered from the virus.
After his ordeal, he has reiterated the fact that, he will not even wish for his “enemy” to contract the virus.
With the conventional education calendar approaching, calls demanding government to reopen schools may rise as well as counter opinions.
As at the 21st of July, 178 COVID-19 Cases in Junior and Senior High Schools in Ghana.
President Akufo-Addo in his last broadcast to the nation pointed out that, government will decide when schools will reopen after the current examinations involving final year students are concluded by mid-September.
This indicates that, the normal academic calendar for Senior High and Junior High Schools as well as some tertiary institutions may be side stepped because of the pandemic.
However, the President assured he will not keep the nation in the dark concerning the reopening of schools in the country.
“I will keep you fully informed about the outcomes.”
