As Form 3 and Form 2 Gold track students in senior high schools across the country return to school, the Ministry of Education says it has had a generally good report from the regions in respect of the government’s supply of PPEs to schools in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

It will be recalled that in May 2020, President Akufo-Addo announced to the nation that our educational institutions would be reopened in a phased manner as the nation sought to return to normal following the imposition of various restrictions in the wake of the Covid-19 in Ghana. All final year students at our tertiary institutions were to report to school on Monday 15th June 2020, whilst SHS 3 and Form 2 Gold Track students were to report on Monday 22nd June 2020. Finally, JHS3 students are to report to school on Monday 29th June 2020.

The purpose of this is to enable the finalists to write their terminal examinations. Government pledged to support the schools with various items to fight the pandemic during this period.

According to sources in the Ministry, over 80% of the items have been delivered to school and that deliveries are ongoing. A total of 334 teams have been constituted to monitor and support schools during this reopening and to provide feedback to the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service (GES).

The items include temperature guns, face masks, Veronica buckets, sanitizers, tissue paper, and handwashing soap. The coordination for the delivery of the items was done under the auspices of the President's Team on Re-opening headed by the Senior Minister and included consultations with the Regional and District Directors of Education, the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS), Conference of Heads of Basic Schools (COHBS), faith-based organizations, teacher unions, the National Buffer Stock Company Ltd and various NGOs and Civil Society Organisations.

According to the Ministry, all schools are mapped to health facilities within its locality and each school has the contact of their health officer. In the case of a suspected case, schools have instructions to liaise with the Health care facility for them to handle the situation.

Meanwhile, the Ministry and the GES are in talks with all Regional Education offices to ensure smooth and safe admission of students back to school.