The fact remains that partial reopening of our schools was the sole option available to enable BECE and WASSCE candidates complete their studies and write their final exams. It is unpatriotic to stand aloof, without commending the Ghana Education Service and the Ministry of Health for their partnership approach to mitigate if not prevent the outbreak of the virus in our schools. Admirably, before the partial reopening of schools, these two partners carved out strategies with inputs from other key stakeholders like the teacher unions. Indisputably, the strategies are working in a lot of our Junior High Schools across the country. Bravo!
However, some of the strategies put in place before the partial reopening of our Senior High Schools seemed to have disappointed us. For example, our insignificant public or media education targeting students, so they could fully understand, accept the existence of the virus and appreciate the havoc it could cause to them, before we attempted the partial reopening of our schools remains a vivid flashback. This could not have led to the negligence of our students when it comes to observing the stipulated school based protocols. Couldn’t it?
The report on the COVID-19 outbreak in some Second Cycle Institutions including: Accra Girls Senior High, Wesley Grammar Senior High Schools among others is nothing to doubt. Meticulously, the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service, laid out innovative measures in order to curtail further spread of the menace. Among them are:
All contacts of confirmed cases have been identified and separated from non-contacts.
Testing of all contacts of confirmed cases have started.
The school authorities with support of the assembly are in the process of disinfecting the affected dormitories.
The school has put in measures to ensure strict adherence to social distancing and other COVID-19 safety measures.
Undoubtedly, the above strategies are explicit, but could only remedy the situation to an extent. The public should desist from fault finding and rather applaud both institutions for their smart ideas and timely response to the situation.
But sincerely speaking, I would not want the Ghana Education Service, the Ministry of Education and by extension the teacher unions to rest their pens on their tables if the following questions remain unanswered;
The Big Questions:
1. What is the confirmation that these students contracted the virus from the school environment?
2. Are we going to disinfect only the affected dormitories leaving all other facilities such as the washrooms, classrooms, among others, used by same, unattended to?
3. What is the role of teachers when it comes to management of COVID-19 cases in our schools?
4. Is the teacher a frontline worker in an affected school?
5. What is the package when a teacher or staff comes into contact with the virus in the line of duty?
6. What happens if the personal protective equipment provided by the government run out of stock, should parents prepare to take over the responsibility of subsequent supplies?
7. What happens if the situation escalates?
The above questions deserve convincing and heart cooling responses.
Suggested Remedies:
In swift response to our preparedness to avoiding escalation of the situation, and total close down of the schools, we need not miss the following:
1.Instead of letting teachers metamorphose into frontline workers (health workers in charge of COVID-19, or its associated risks), let us assign permanent community nurse(s) to a school to attend to emerging situations and check temperatures of students and staff on daily basis.
2. There should be an immediate mandatory mass testing for all students including staff instead of only the traced contacts.
3. Let us carry out backward contact tracing. That is, contact tracing should not focus on students and staff alone within the school, but their families and any other officer or visitor including, distributors of the personal protective equipment, who were in the school weeks past. But not excluding manufacturers of the PPEs.
4. Management of the Ghana Education Service and teacher unions should enlighten school managers and staff on what to do after exchanging documents such as: lesson note books, pens, text books, exercise books and so on and so forth with staff and students.
5. A temporary emergency accommodation should be provided for staff who commute from home each day to the school.
Conclusion:
Going forward, I beseech the teacher unions, Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service to collaborate as is peculiar of them and find innovative means in undertaking the following in our schools: marking of learner exercises, vetting of lesson notes by Headteachers, signing of attendance books, to mention but a few. This is because, their exchange and touch could be a high medium for the spread of the virus. We are not in normal times, let’s unite, work together and stay safe. We Live to Teach, but we must stay alive to teach.
WISDOM KOUDJO KLU,
EDUCATIONIST/COLUMNIST,
KPONE KATAMANSO MUNICIPAL,
GREATER ACCRA REGION.