Private legal practitioner, Nii Kpakpo Samoa Addo has said mass testing of teachers and students should precede the partial reopening of schools.
Mr. Addo said a mandatory COVID-19 test for teachers and students will help in curbing a spread of the virus in schools.
“One of the things that ex-President Mahama has been advocating is mass testing for our students. We cannot in good conscience allow our students to enter into the various campuses without testing. It is like we are signing a suicide pact.”
“How do we know the status of the people that are in. How do we know the status of teachers? The idea is that you want to protect them [students and teachers] from some infection from outside but you are not concerned about whether the people that are coming from their various homes have any infection.”
Schools in the country were ordered to shut down after a directive from the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on March 15, 2020, as part of measures to stop the further spread of the Coronavirus disease [COVID-19] in the country.
The President, however, reopened schools for only final year students to prepare and enable them to take their final examinations.
According to the Minister for Education, Matthew Opoku Prempeh, final year SHS students will be in school on Monday, June 22, 2020, while final year JHS students will resume on Monday, June 29, 2020.
Universities will also reopen for final year students on June 15, 2020.
Meanwhile, President Akufo-Addo has set up a special taskforce to ensure the safe re-opening of schools for final year students.
Among other duties, the taskforce will oversee the provision of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and also ensure strict enforcement of COVID-19 safety protocols.
The President, Nana Akufo-Addo has said the success or failure of the partial reopening of schools will inform the government’s next line of action in the educational sector.
