The National Council of Parent-Teacher Associations (NCPTAs) has called on government to as a matter of urgency close down schools and send children home to their parents to avoid an escalation of Covid-19 cases.
This comes after several reports of Covid-19 cases in some senior high schools.
In a statement signed by its National President, Mr Alexander Yaw Danso, on Monday July 13, the NCPTA said it had made a number of observations since the reopening of schools which included government’s failure to supply all schools with the needed PPE’s.
“Not all schools have received the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) as promised by the government. The schools which have received supplies did not get full supply of the PPEs. The Covid-19 safety protocols, especially the social-distancing and wearing of nose masks, are not being adhered to by students,” the statement read.
It added, “not enough health personnel are either stationed in or attached to many of the schools for routine surveillance due to the pandemic”, adding that “inadequate space in some schools has resulted in overcrowding in dormitories, defeating the purpose of the social-distancing protocol, even though the initial communication to parents from the government indicated that Day Students in boarding schools would be converted to boarders (allowed to stay in school as boarders till completion of their examinations), unfortunately, because of lack of space in some schools, Day Students continue to remain home commuting to and from school, making them more susceptible to getting infected, thereby increasing the probability of infecting others within the school community.”
According to the NCPTAs, its “checks have revealed positive cases of Covid-19 infection among our children in the senior high schools, corroborating same, as put out in the public domain by the media due to the lapses in the implementation of the Covid-19 and the concerns of the association.”
It stated that the voters registration exercise in senior high schools will allow more persons into schools which will compromise the safety of students. To them, if parents are not allowed to visit children, then there is no need for the EC to be there.
The NCPTA said the children are not in sound mind to write their WASSCE and BECE and come out successfully considering the situation we find ourselves in.
“In the event that students are to be sent home, parents are advised to endeavour to isolate and test their children for the 14-day period before integrating them into the larger family for the sake of everybody’s safety,” the statement added.
Source: GhanaFeed.com
