About 14 years ago, on my way home from school, which is Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ), there was an argument between a passenger and a driver on the causes of wayward children.
The driver took side with the parents and the passenger took the other side.
Thirty minutes into the journey, after refusing to accept each other’s point, the passenger made a submission that got the driver levelling on the same plane, eh333 that is my point, he said.
Sharply the passenger asked is it my point or your point? Meanwhile, one man who was grossly angry that the passenger was taking the attention of the driving rebuked them “and who is awarding the points?”
But please allow me to make my point.
With our universities, there no Covid-19 issues. Same with our Junior High Schools (JHS), there are no politics or gimmicks being played with it but what about the Senior High School (SHS)?
Is it because it is free? Lol.
Those calling for closure of schools; are they calling for closure of only Free SHS or Tertiary (universities) and JHS as well?
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I have heard people arguing that some other African countries have decided to close schools till 2021 and so Ghana should do same.
I have listened, watched and read most of them, all the countries Nigeria, Kenya etc. are looking at re-opening school to all categories of students, this is different from Ghana.
We have or are re-opening schools in phases and in a controlled manner.
I will rather urge government to rather set up well-resourced Isolation centres in all schools because there are more than enough rooms to spare, thus, less than a third of students are currently on campus.
Sending potentially infected children to parents in their single or two-bedroom homes may rather put an entire family in danger and it’s definitely not the way to go at this point.
It is frightening as a parent to hear your child’s school has recorded a case but I feel it is also not the best for some parents to demand for their wards because they wouldn’t know their status.
If it gets to the point where schools are to close down, the best thing the government can do is to ensure that at least all students from schools with recorded cases are tested before being released to go home.
But I still stick to my point that the schools have the best advantage when it comes to isolation.
Vigilance and strict adherence to the protocol is the best thing to do. Inciting parents to go for their children may not just put them at risk but an entire family, community and all of us.
This article was written by Mr Gyasi Appiah, a concerned Ghanaian.