Four teacher unions are unhappy with the Ghana Education Service (GES) letter requesting proposals for reopening of schools in the country amidst rising coronavirus cases.
Four teacher Unions – GNAT, NAGRAT, TEWU and CCT said at a joint press conference that the GES letter, which suggests that the body has launched a stakeholder consultation to provide President Akufo-Addo with measures to be taken ahead of a possible reopening of all basic and senior high schools, is uncalled for.
The GES, in a letter dated 13 May 2020, signed by Director-General, Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, urged all stakeholders, including the leadership of the teacher bodies, to contribute their ideas on how the schools can ensure safety and maximum security if pupils are allowed to resume lessons.
But the teacher unions think this is misplaced.
Speaking at a press conference in Accra, Mr Thomas Musah, the General Secretary of GNAT, said: "This particular letter, which has come out, is creating fear and panic among the rank and file of our members. Currently, the [COVID-19] figures we have is 5,735 with 29 deaths and when people are looking at these particular figures, certainly, it will create fear and panic among them.
"We're talking about a situation where when a teacher is going to school, the teacher will board trotro and you have certain children in a particular class coming from all walks of life. The question is, do we know the status of all the teachers who will be going to the schools? Have they been tested? The children, have they been tested? These are fundamental issues we should all establish. If we don't do that and we start talking of reopening at this particular moment, the question is why won't we wait for the President to come and speak and we take it up from there. Schools or educational facilities are not the only places closed down..."
Source: modernghana.com
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You can re-open the schools and even charge NO fees or make it COMPULSORY FREE....me, my children will step nowhere near the school.......until I am very much more convinced of the safety of my children!!! What at all is this? Will those pushing for the re-opening of schools be there themselves to ensure the safety of these little ones? If you sacrificial lamps, you can or may allow your biological children to go to the schools after all, they have been benefiting from day one.... Lock down and rigorously test, trace, treat and arrest these menace, we force the president to lift lock down, look at our numbers now? You now want to force our kids into this problem too! Even adults kwraa, how long do we keep our mask on through the day much less to talk about kids? You can even chose to make the school COMPULSORY FREE and even Pay the kids to attend the re-opened schools..........