Ghanaians queue up to receive medical and food supplies in a local community in Accra, capital of Ghana, on April 18, 2020. (Xinhua/Xu Zheng)
Ghana's education minister says schools in the country will not resume fully so long as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread.
ACCRA, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, Ghanaian education minister, said here Thursday schools in the country will not be made to resume fully so long as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread.
According to him, studies conducted by the scientific community on the nature and behavior of the virus makes it dangerous to re-open schools fully as it will be fertile grounds for the virus' rapid spread among Ghanaian students hence endangering the lives of the public.
This means the start of the 2020-2021 academic year which normally begins in September in the West African country will be rescheduled to a later date.
"Once COVID-19 still remained with us, students will not be made to resume fully as it is fertile grounds for the spread," Dr. Opoku Prempeh stated.
He observed the government would take a decision on how to run the new academic year once final year students in the country's junior and senior high schools as well as those in the tertiary institutions completed their various examinations.
The education minister assured the public his outfit had put in place measures to ensure that all schools reopened to accommodate final year students to enable them to write their exams by complying with all COVID-19 safety protocols as announced by the government.
Ghanaian President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo directed the closure of all schools on March 16 after the West African country recorded its first case of COVID-19 four days earlier.
The announcement brought all academic activities to an abrupt end until three months later when the Ghanaian leader asked that final year students in the tertiary, senior high schools, and junior high schools return to school on June 15, 22, and 29 respectively to write their final exams.
As of now, final year tertiary students have finished with their exams while senior high schools are presently writing their final exams after which the junior high schools will follow suit. ■
