The Institute for Education Studies is calling on the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service to suspend the reopening of Basic schools till all relevant PPEs are distributed to all schools in the country.

IFEST finds it completely unacceptable that, most of the Basic Schools are yet to receive any form of PPEs as promised by the relevant authorities. It is even more shocking because the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service have had the privilege of experiencing the challenges that bedeviled the sharing of these PPEs during the partial reopening last year and should have started the distribution long ago before the reopening date.

Unfortunately, pupils have had to report to school today without the needed PPEs at a time when Covid-19 is in the ascendency in the country. This sadly comes just a day after the President's announcement to Ghanaians on enforcing the COVID-19 protocols. This situation is likely to put both teachers and students at risk and should not be allowed to continue.

We are therefore calling on the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service to suspend the reopening till all schools have received the needed PPEs. We are also calling on parents and guardians to provide their wards with at least a nose mask and hand sanitizer to enable them to stick to the protocols.

We believe that the words of those in authority are supposed to be backed by concrete actions and that the practice of having a discrepancy between what a policy directive is and practical happenings on the ground should come to a halt.

Signed

Peter Anti

(Executive Director, Ag.)