WASSCE starts Monday July 20 - GES boss

The Director-General of the Ghana Education Office, Prof. Opoku Amankwah, has disclosed that enough preparations have been put in place to ensure the safety of students as they commence their WASSCE exams on Monday.

He indicated that though they are starting with the practicals on Monday, it is imperative to ensure that students are adequately protected whilst they take their exams.

Speaking on Okay FM's 'Ade Akye Abia' programme, he explained that they have also provided adequate safety measures in all the Senior High Schools to ensure the safety of the students.

Disinfection exercises have also begun in the schools to curb the COVID-19 spread.

He, however, denied reports that schools would be closed with a surge in the COVID-19 cases.

"Second batch of the Gold track students are in school to catch up with their fellow gold track students. So the various Teacher Unions have agreed that we use this exercise as a pilot one," he added.

Disinfection exercise

The Ghana Education Service (GES) has assured parents and guardians of final-year Senior High School (SHS) students in the country that it will do everything humanly possible to protect their children against COVID-19.

The Greater Accra Regional Director of GES, Monica Ankrah gave the assurance on the sideline of a mass disinfection exercise at the Accra Girls’ Senior High School.

She said school authorities have also been charged with the task of ensuring that the students together with the teaching and non-teaching staff members strictly observe the COVID-19 safety protocols.

The exercise, which was a collaboration between the Ministry of Education (MoE), and Zoomlion Ghana Limited (ZGL), came off yesterday, and it lasted for about five hours.

According to the Greater Accra Regional GES Director, the lives of the students were a priority to her outfit, encouraging parents to have confidence in the GES and school authorities to “take very good care of their children”.

She also assured the teaching and non-teaching staff that the GES will continue to implement measures that will protect them from the virus.

While empathizing with parents who want their wards home, she stressed that the best option was for the infected students to be isolated and treated on campus.

“In the wake of reported COVID-19 cases in some of the schools, the best thing to do which we [at GES] are doing is isolating and treating those infected by the virus, instead of sending them home where there is the high risk of them exposing their families and others to the virus,” she said.

“Isolation centres have been provided in the schools to facilitate treatment of students who would contract COVID-19,” Mrs. Ankrah added.