The Minority side in Parliament has called on the government to as a matter of urgency, close down schools again after some Senior High School (SHS) students contracted the coronavirus after returning to school for academic work.
President Akufo-Addo in a televised address to the nation, directed final year SHS and Form Two Gold Track students to resume academic work for them to prepare and sit for their final exams, after several weeks of schools closing down as a result of the outbreak of the coronavirus in the country.
But following reports of some students at the Accra Girls SHS contracting the virus, the Minority has suggested that the government takes a second look at the decision as some students live in fear and do not have the peace of mind to study for the exams.
According to the Member of Parliament for Builsa South and Deputy Ranking Member on the Education Committee of Parliament, Clement Apaak, the government has failed to protect students, hence, should close down schools once again.
“The Minority caucus in Parliament totally agrees with NAGRAT’s position. We had earlier issued a statement and, in that statement, we made it very clear that because of the exponential rise in the case count vis-à-vis reports about these students now becoming infected with the disease and juxtaposing that with government’s absolute failure in putting in place the mechanisms and breaching the promises that it made to ensure that students remain safe on campus, there can only be one conclusion– the students must go home. Parents need to have their wards because the state has failed to provide the needed safety measures to ensure that they have the peace of mind to be able to study and to write their final exams so there is no need keeping them in school when the dangers are so obvious, clear and present.”
Parents stormed the Accra Girls SHS on Monday, July 6, 2020, in request to pick up their wards after six students tested positive for the disease.
A joint statement released by the Ghana Education Service and Ghana Health Service confirmed the cases, adding that a teacher and his spouse had also tested positive, raising the number of cases in the school to eight.
Meanwhile, the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) has said that it’s call’s for the government to refrain from reopening schools have been vindicated by the developments which occurred at the Accra Girls Senior High School.
NAGRAT and other bodies on several grounds advised against the reopening of schools, saying that it will lead to a spread of the virus among students.
Speaking in an interview, President of NAGRAT, Angel Carbonu said the current development at Accra Girls SHS raises fear of what might be going on in other schools as well.
“It sounds like what we foresaw is, unfortunately, coming to bear. The fact of the matter is that Accra Girls is not the only Senior High School in this country, they do not operate in isolation and the students do not come from isolated geographical entities so only God knows what the situation may be in other Senior High Schools.”
Furthermore, he called on the government to close down schools again before the situation gets out of control.
“From where I sit now, before we get to a point where we cannot control, I think we should bite the bullet and close down the schools. That is my personal opinion. The way things are going, I can assure you the story is not looking too pleasant.”
Currently, Ghana’s COVID-19 case count, according to figures issued by the Ghana Health Service as of July 7, 2020, pegged at 21,968 after 891 new infections were detected in 73 districts.
Clinical recoveries/discharges are up to 17,156 with the death count standing at 129, leaving behind a total 4,682 cases.
