President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in his 12th address to the nation, June 21, 2020, on government’s policies to curb the spread of the Novel Coronavirus, reiterated that final year SHS students are to make a return to school today, Monday, June 22, 2020.

He announced that teaching, learning and other school activities are to be conducted with strict adherence to social distancing protocols.

In this regard, GhanaWeb took a brief tour to some Senior High Schools (SHSs) in the Greater Accra Region to record the changes in settling in and how students are coming to terms with the changes in their environment.

The news team made its first stop at the Accra Girls Senior High School, even though authorities of the school vehemently refused to speak to the news team, the general atmosphere was quite busy as students were seen with their parents lodging in and already commencing their registrations.

At St Thomas Aquinas Senior High School, the Headmaster, Paul Amoasi Baidoo, told GhanaWeb the school had concluded its preparation and the turnout of students, both second-year gold track and final years, were quite impressive.

He also acknowledged receipt of some personal protective equipment (PPE) from the government of Ghana which they had already begun distributing to students.

“We have received the PPEs and we’re distributing them to the students; the nose masks, the hand sanitisers…so as for the protocols and the hygiene we’re on course…,” Mr Amoasi Baidoo said.

Another interesting initiative the school had taken to ensure social distancing amongst student was that each classroom had the names of students legibly printed out and posted on the front door. Teachers were also moving around sharing PPEs.

The next stop was Labone Senior High School.

Speaking to GhanaWeb, the Assistant Headmaster in charge of Administration, Isaac Arthur said the school is expecting over 800 students and as at the filing of this report, the turnout was quite impressive.

“Labone we have a lot of classroom blocks and every classroom we have 20-25, the maximum. So the classroom arrangement there’s no problem…We eat three times a day here, morning, afternoon and evening and the food is enough though there will not be vendors here but the food in the dining hall is sufficient to cater for everybody.”

With regards to dormitory arrangement, Mr Arthur said similar provisions had been made to ensure that students are not cramped up.

Senior Housemistress of the school, Vincentia Annim Agyei also added that “turnout is very good they came as early as 6 am and they’re still coming. We have started with the washing of hands very soon we’ll take their temperature to make sure that there’s none ill among them.”

It must be noted however that in all schools visited, Veronica buckets were seen at vantage points serving useful purposes.

Form three students are expected to sit for their WASSCE on August 3, 2020, after six weeks of intensive studies.

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