Reasons for closure of schools not real – CHASS

President of the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) Alhaji Abubakari Yakubu is surprised at the calls for closing secondary schools across the country, based on covid-19 infections in some of the schools.

Noting that, all the various teacher unions have their local branches in the various schools, but none has discussed their concerns with the head teachers who have the sole management responsibilities of the various institutions.

And CHASS is at a loss when these same unions are heard on air making demands for the closures.

According to the teacher unions, measures put in place by authorities to ensure the safety of both staff and students have not been implemented to prevent the spread of the pandemic.

An earlier joint statement by the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT) said the situation could be dire if schools were not closed down immediately.

“Our children are our future and we must protect them. For how long can we stand and look while our children are consigned to death? In the light of this, we, the pre-tertiary teacher unions -GNAT, NAGRAT, TEWU, and CCT have no option than to ask that the schools be closed down,” the statement said.

Subsequently, after putting in place a number of measures including regular surveillance, enhanced contact tracing, testing, and treatment, the government eased some of the earlier restrictions.

However, a little over 100 students in 14 SHS across the country have been confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 four weeks after reopening.

This has generated concerns from several quarters as the Minority in Ghana’s Parliament, the National Parent Teacher Association, as well as some civil society groups, had earlier on called on the government to shut down schools.

But CHASS believes the rational for the closure is not a reality to the heads of the institutions.

Godfred Sey/ Ahotoronline.com