Education General News

Private schools council supports reopening schools but. . . . . .

National Council of Private Schools says, it will support the reopening of schools across the country which has been closed down for months due to the ravaging effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Council is convinced that, government and the experts would have done full assessment of the situation before reopening, and as a Council, would comply.

Executive Director of the National Council of Private Schools, Enock Kwasi Gyetuah in an interview said, reopening the schools will be in the right direction.

About 94,000 teachers from over 4,300 private schools have lost their jobs due to the pandemic and the subsequent closure of schools.

This has put the finances of the private schools in an awkward situation as they solely depend on the receipt of fees to run their institutions.

However, 4 teacher unions from the public educational institutions who are on government pay roll has kicked against the reopening of schools, contending that, their schools lack the logistics to ensure the social and the hygienic protocols set by the government.

The unions include National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Teachers and Educational Workers Union(TEWU), and Coalition of Concerned Teachers ( CCT).

The President of NAGRAT, Angel Carbonoo cautioned that, in the resumption of schools without the set protocols, the school environment could become grounds for a spiraled infection of the covid-19.

CUE IN: REOPENING NO

He was of the opinion that due to the age brackets of the students, in the upper classes and the Senior High schools, they could reopen and ensure the laid down protocols.

They could even use the other empty classrooms to deepen the distancing.

He urged the Ghana Education Service to collaborate with the National Council of Private Schools ad use the premises of the private schools who have empty rooms as a result of the free education that deprived the private schools of their wards.

CUE IN: USE PRIVATE SCHOOLS