Some parents in the Tamale metropolis in the northern region have urged School Management and Teachers in both public and private institutions to enforce the COVID-19 safety protocols in the wake of the reopening of schools nationwide.
The parents expressed concern about the surge in the number of infected cases of the pandemic in some parts of the country.
They reiterated the need for the various school authorities to guide their wards to adhere to the health guidelines now that teaching and learning have begun.
THE CUSTODIAN caught up with some of these parents, Wednesday morning (20 January, 2020), many of whom were busily transporting their pupils largely crèche, kindergarten and basic school students to school.
Several of these concerned parents further implored the teachers to take the ultimate responsibility and ensure that the pupils always abide by the wearing of nose masks, hand washing protocol as well as the physical distancing guidelines as announced by the government.
They believe the full compliance with these health protocols will curb the spread of the virus among the students and teachers.
Meanwhile, the Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Education Service (GES) in the northern region, Mr. Kanzoni Awaala Donald in an interview with THE CUSTODIAN conceded that the children at their ages would certainly face challenges of adhering to the safety protocols but said the teachers are expected to take the students through the safety protocols.
“It is only in a matter of time that the children will conform with the new order that is going on and we also urge parents to also support” he added.
He disclosed that the Ghana Education Service together with some of its major partners and stakeholders before the reopening of schools initiated some activities, which included a rigorous Back to School Campaign and measures to ensure the school facilities were safe before the commencement of teaching activities.
“Having realized that Covid-19 had come and hasn’t gone, a lot of people would’ve sounded apprehensive of going back to school. So there was that need for us to embark on rigorous Back to School Campaign involving multi-sectoral agencies who were involved and the issues that we were looking at were how to get the schools safe for the children to return, then we also looked at the psychosocial issues and how we could ensure when the children comeback there would be minimum contact issues so that nobody is infected with the virus” Mr. Donald explained.
