Ranking Member on the Parliamentary Committee for Education, Clement Apaak has accused the Ghana Education Service (GES) of deceiving parents and students preparing to sit for their final exam on reasons for postponing their reopening date to May 5 2021.

He insists the claim by the GES that the directive is to give the form 3 students an uninterrupted instructional period till they write their final examination is not the reality on the ground.

According to him, this directive is an indication of what the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has always said, “The government has failed in the roll out of the free SHS policy”.

Sharing the true reason behind the postponement of the reopening date for form 3 students, in an interview on the Happy Morning Show hosted by Raymond Nyamador, Dr. Apaak said, “The year 3’s have been made to stay home because the schools are choked and cannot accommodate all the classes from form 1 to 3. There is no physical space to accommodate the students. The newly admitted students are more than those in form 2 and they (form 2’s) also outnumber the form 3’s”.

He believes the pretence under which the reopening dates were postponed will affect student’s preparation towards their final exam. “If there are available spaces to accommodate students and enough food to cater for their well-being, why ask them to stay home for a month, when there is erratic power supply and no community libraries for the students to study in”.

The member of the opposition posited that the NDC promised to end the double track system and expand infrastructure in Senior High Schools within a year when voted to power “with our big push agenda”. But, “the government is yet to give us the exact time frame they will end the double-track system”.

The Ghana Education Service (GES) has rescheduled the reopening of schools for form 3 Senior High School students to May 5.

According to the Service, this followed a proposal from the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS).

The form 3 students were to have reported to school on 6th April 2020 and be in school until 28th May 2021.

“The current arrangement, therefore, means that when the final year students report on 5th May 2021, they will be in school until they write their WASSCE,” a GES statement noted.

“Management of GES, therefore, considers this, as a better option where the students will not break their instructional period and have their full 1,080 hours needed prior to the final examination”, portions of the statement read.