We were not consulted on schools reopening - GNAT

The General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Thomas Musah, has said his outfit was not consulted on the reopening of schools for Senior High School 2 students and Junior High School 2 students.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in his 16th address on COVID-19 updates, announced that the Ghana Education Service in consultation with relevant stakeholders has taken the decision for these continuing students to return to school from October 5th to December 14th.

Reacting to the selective reopening, Mr. Tanko told GhanaWeb that his association was left out of consultation processes.

“It must be put on record that it is a national issue and so the necessary consultations were to be made. There was a need for consultation before coming out with a reopening plan. However, we were not consulted.

“Even though we were not consulted, last week we received an invitation from the Ghana Education Service for a stakeholder consultation. Now, we will raise concerns to address issues of the reopening,” he added.

Ghana closed its schools on March 15, 2020, as part of the country’s lockdown to address the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Sunday, 31 May 2020, however, the President announced that final-year university students were to report to their universities on 15th June, final-year senior high school students, together with senior high school 2 Gold Track students, on 22nd June; and final-year junior high school students on 29th June.

The government has also announced the reopening of schools for SHS 2 and JHS 2 students in October.