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The National Council of Parent-Teacher Associations of Ghana has called for the need to postpone West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
In a statement, it noted that because of COVID-19, the students in school are “psychologically unstable and therefore would not be of sound mind to write the WASSCE and BECE examinations and come out successfully.”
It also wants all schools closed down “to avert further spreading of the coronavirus among our children and staff.”
The council came to this conclusion after a National Executive Consultative meeting.
Since schools reopened, there have been multiple cases of infection recorded in schools nationwide.
The council said it had observed that the government had not ensured optimum safety conditions in schools and that there were still “lapses in implementation of the COVID-19 safety measures.”
It noted that there was still overcrowding in schools, inadequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) despite assurances by the state when schools were set to open on June 22.
The government promised that each student, teaching and non-teaching staff were to be provided with three pieces of reusable face masks.
The council also said, “not enough health personnel are either stationed in or attached to many of the schools for routine surveillance due to the pandemic.”
“More worrying is the fact that despite good counsel and encouragement, most parents insist their children should be brought home,” it added.
These concerns have prompted the government to set up a committee to monitor the COVID-19 situation in Senior High Schools.
The committee is made up of Dr. Anothony Nsiah Asare, the presidential Advisor on Health; Dr. Okoe Boye, the Deputy Minister of Information; Dr. Da Costa Aboagye, the Director Health Promotion Division at the Ghana Health Service; Dr Yaw Adu Twum, a Deputy Minister of Education and Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, the Director-General Ghana Health Service.
