The Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, Sam George has disclosed it will be imprudent to allow children in nursery, kindergarten and lower primary to resume school.
Following the spike in COVID-19 cases and the entrance of the new variant in the country, he stated that they have no reason to be in the classroom due to the nature of their curriculum.
Sam George noted that some parents, including himself have expressed worry over the possible spread of the virus in the school as Ghana’s cases increase.
According to him, the threat of COVID-19 cannot be underrated for children in these educational brackets.
Speaking in an interview, Sam George said due to the critical conditions in the education sector now, his kids will not be in school until further notice.
“Kids at nursery, kindergarten, lower primary school level have no business being in school. What are they actually being taught? And if you follow their curriculum, you will realize that a lot of what they do is communal– they share abacuses and other kinds of items. The teachers they interact with have not been vaccinated, many of them join public transportation to school. What is the assurance that they do not get into contact with the virus?.
“Why do we do this to ourselves? But well, ultimately the President is the President of the country and he has taken a decision. But I am taking a decision as a parent in the interest of my children. But if you listened to the President yesterday, you should be worried as a parent”.
Invariably, schools in Ghana were closed since March 15, 2020, as part of the government’s measures to curtail the spread of COVID-19.
But after close to ten months of closure, President Akufo-Addo in his 21st address announced the opening of schools for basic schools on 15th January 2021.
President Akufo-Addo in his 22nd address said, in spite of plea to ensure compliance of safety guidelines, the country has seen an upsurge in the number of active cases, from a little over nine hundred to one thousand, nine hundred and twenty-four (1,924).
“Our COVID-19 treatment centres have gone from having zero patients to now being full because of the upsurge in infections.
“Particularly worrying is the fact that the Ghana Health Service is recording, on the average, two hundred (200) new cases of COVID infections daily.
“Two weeks ago, there was no critical case, we now have thirty-three (33) in our treatment facilities. Again, according to statistics from the Ghana Health Service, the considerable number of persons who are severely ill are, surprisingly, relatively youthful persons, with no previous underlying health conditions. The number of confirmed deaths has increased, sadly, from three hundred and thirty-eight (338) persons to three hundred and fifty-two (352) within the period”.
Despite the staggering figures, he said government has taken the required steps to ensure their safety in school.
“Heads of institutions, as well as their teachers, have undergone the requisite orientation on ‘Guidelines for school re-opening during COVID-19’, to enable them assist with compliance of students to the protocols”.
