The Conference of Heads of Assisted Senior High Schools (CHASS) has indicated that engagements with the Electoral Commission are ongoing to ensure eligible senior high school students currently in school register to vote.
At the moment, students are not allowed to leave school premises because of the coronavirus safety protocols.
All registration centres have been gazetted for the ongoing voter registration exercise and there currently is no room for extra centres that could accommodate students in their schools, the Electoral Commission has noted.
The Ghana Education Service, through the Ministry of Education, directed heads of senior high schools to send home any final year student who leaves a school’s premises because of the threat of the coronavirus.
But the National President of CHASS, Alhaji Yacoub Abubakari, assured that education authorities were working to ensure special arrangements for affected students.
“Per the direction or discussions we have had with our Director-General of the Ghana Education Service, the service has contacted the Electoral Commission for a special arrangement to be done for senior high schools so that the staff of the commission will come to such schools and register the students,” he said on Eyewitness News.
“As of yesterday, they [the Ghana Education Service] assured us that a letter was leaving the GES to the electoral commission on this issue,” he added.
Mr. Abubakari also reminded that the protocols are necessary “to avoid the students going out and mixing with the public with these challenges with the COVID-19.”