Use creative ways to spread COVID-19 messages – NCCE urged

The National Commission on Culture is calling on the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to use creative ways in educating the public about the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Commission says most people will easily heed to the safety protocols if the messages propagated are engaging.

According to the Ghana Health Service, though adherence to the COVID-19 safety protocols has heightened, the general public must not be complacent because the virus still persists.

Health experts say one of the means through which compliance can be sustained is continuous education.

For this reason, the National Commission on Culture said individuals will be well-educated about the virus if creative ways are inculcated in propagating messages about the pandemic.

At an outreach program to educate market women at Dodowa, Greater Accra Regional Director for the Centre for National Culture, Alice Alima Kala, said people will best appreciate the ramification of not obeying the protocols through drama.

“It will have a very big effect; it will let people acknowledge that COVID-19 is real when they watch drama and pay attention to the characters in the drama and what they present. The National Commission for Civic Education should be called on through the education office to be going around and doing a similar thing. They should fuse drama into it and the message will go far. Children like watching films so when they watch the drama, adhering to the safety protocols will not be a challenge. They will learn and know the importance of social distancing, washing of hands, using of sanitiser among others”.

A Non- Governmental Organization, Rescue Volunteers in Ghana supported the market women with some PPE.

Country coordinator, Lydia Tsotsoo Odai Tettey admonished the traders to adhere to the protocols.

“The market women shouldn’t take anything to chance; even at home, we want them to wash their hands often. We want them to know that this second wave of COVID-19 is no joke. We don’t even know how it is transferred to other people hence the need to follow the protocols. They should wear the mask regularly and make good use of the PPEs we have given them”.