An education consultant, Kofi Asare is urging the Ghana Education Service (GES) to ensure strict compliance to the COVID-19 protocols in schools.
He said this will help to assure parents that their wards are safe in school amidst the rising case of COVID-19 in the country.
Kofi Asare’s call comes at a time when some parents are calling for the closure of schools one week after reopening due to the surge in cases of COVID-19.
He said if the GES had initiated a shift system and made personal protective kits readily available to schools before they were officially reopened last week, parents would have been assured of the safety of their wards.
He however said the GES can immediately heighten compliance to the COVID-19 safety protocols to avoid outbreaks in schools.
“With a blatant disregard for health and safety protocols and there is overcrowding in schools, I appreciate the concerns that some friends are expressing that schools should close down. Many private schools are doing virtual learning. I think GES must prove parents wrong by sticking to the protocols that the president has established. If the GES had split the classroom into a maximum of 30 and running a shift especially in urban schools, and PPE was available from day 1, we wouldn’t be having this discussion. If that is done, I’m sure the concern that parents have will be watered down,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Director General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Patrick Kumah Aboagye says only three cases of COVID-19 had been recorded in schools in Ghana since their reopening last week.
At the last briefing of the Ministry of Information, he said two cases were confirmed in the Upper West Region with one case in the Western Region.
