President Akufo Addo has announced that a covid-19 sensitisation programme will be organized from Monday 29th June 2020 for all headteachers, and their teaching staffs as basic schools across the country re-open.
Final year Junior High Schools students in seventeen thousand, four hundred and thirty-nine (17439) schools across the country are due to return to school on Monday to prepare and sit for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (B.E.C.E).
In all about seven hundred and fifty thousand (750,000) persons, comprising five hundred and thirty-two thousand (532,000) JHS 3 students, and two hundred and eighteen thousand (218,000) teaching and non-teaching staff, and invigilators, are expected to be involved in the reopening.
In his 13th televised address to the nation yesterday, President Akufo Addo noted that the sensitization programme has become necessary to ensure that the successful adherence of the covid 19 protocols as followed by the tertiary institutions and senior high schools are also adhered to by the basic schools.
“I have been very impressed by the adherence to the enhanced hygiene and social distancing protocols by authorities and students in our universities and other tertiary institutions, and senior high schools. Yes, there have been a few hitches surrounding the re-opening, but, largely, they have been smooth and seamless. In these institutions, the washing of hands under running water, the maintenance of social distancing, the refrain from shaking hands and hugging, and the wearing of masks, have become a part of the routine of school life. We are determined to ensure the same level of conformity in our Junior High Schools” he said.
He said the sensitization programme will be done through the District Directors of Education and the District Directors of Health, and it is to ensure that “the dos and don’ts of the protocols are clearly spelt out for the teachers for onward transmission to the students.”
He therefore assured parents of the safety of their wards. He said government has in consultation with the Conference of Heads of Basic Schools and Regional and District Directors of Education and Health put the following measures in place.
You can read this: Government Adopts Measures to Ensure Safety of Final Year SHS Students
“All Junior High Schools across the country have been fumigated and disinfected. Additionally, we have procured and distributed forty-five thousand (45,000) Veronica Buckets; ninety thousand (90,000) gallons of liquid soap; ninety thousand (90,000) rolls of tissue paper; forty thousand (40,000) thermometer guns; seven hundred and fifty thousand (750,000) pieces of 200mils sanitizers; and 2.2 million reusable facemasks, i.e. three per person, all with the intent of guaranteeing the safety of the students, teaching and non-teaching staff. Two (2) masks each will be delivered tomorrow, and the third within the next two (2) weeks.”
The JHS 3 students are expected to be in school for eleven (11) weeks of preparation and revision, before spending the following week to take the BECE. The President said as part of the measures “there will be no more than thirty (30) students in a class, and there will be a reduced school day, with students reporting to school at 9am, and closing at 1pm. No breaks outside the classroom will be permitted; assemblies and sporting events are banned; and the use by outsiders of school premises for religious and other activities will not be allowed”
He further explained that each basic school has been mapped to a health facility, and care will be provided to the sick in these health facilities by nurses assigned to these schools.
Source: ATLFMNEWS
