Private schools in Ghana are demanding a partial reopening of schools across the country starting mid-June this year.
In a proposal to the Ghana Education Service, the Ghana National Association of Private Schools (GNAPS) and the Conference of Heads of Private Secondary Schools (CHOPSS) are jointly of the view that safety mechanisms ought to be rolled out rapidly to pave the way for, at least, final-year students in all senior high schools to resume school.
Many public teacher unions have kicked against an early reopening of schools due to poor infrastructure in the public sector, which, they say, will make adherence to COVID-19 safety protocols difficult.
Also, the Council for the National Council of Parent-Teacher Associations (NCPTAs) has indicated that it will be “premature to reopen schools”.
But the private schools think otherwise.
In an interview with Class 91.3FM’s Blessed Sogah, the public relations officer of (CHOPSS), Naphtali Kyei-Baffour, mused: “Why not we start for the final year students?”, explaining: “What we mean simply is that, at least, it’s a defined number, they are not many. … So, we can control, we can simply manage the situation”.
He that: “If possible, even before the reopening … let us test all these final-year students including teachers”.
CHOPSS further explained that it gave a timeline of mid-June to the government to consider.
In addition, the General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Private Schools (GNAPS), Justice King Essiel, said: “If there is something we must do, let us do it right now. …So, let us take steps and begin to see how we can begin to allow schools to resume and let’s give priority to our education”.