Basic schools at Ablekuma South are ready to reopen on Monday, January 18, after staying home for almost a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ms Regina Puplampu, the Assistant Headmistress of the Martyrs of Uganda R/C Basic School, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview on Friday that the teachers were ready to begin classes as scheduled.

She, however, appealed to parents to ensure that their children reported to school early to go through all the protocols, adding; “We want to come to school because we have stayed home for too long”.

She assured parents that the school had been fumigated just as the government directed but was worried about the high number of pupils who would be in the classroom.

Ms Puplampu noted that as a public school the number of pupils were usually high, which would make it difficult to observe the COVID-19 protocols.

She said in spite of that teachers were ready to put in their maximum efforts to ensure that the pupils adhered to social distancing directives, washed their hands regularly and used sanitizers.

Mr Gabriel Kwadzodeh, the Assistant Headmaster of the Evangelical Presbyterian School, Mamprobi, told the GNA that the school had gone through certain hygienic practices to ensure environmental cleanliness.

“Teachers and pupils were present to clean the school, mounted veronica bucket in front of each classroom with water and soap for handwashing,” he said.

“We are also waiting for government to provide us with all the required Personal Protective Equipment.”

He said some parents had been to the school to seek admission for their children since most of the private schools around the vicinity had shut down due to the lock down.

“Parents are rushing in for enrolment but their numbers cannot be contained,” he added.

Mr Kwadzodeh said the school fees had not been increased but payments had been divided into two semesters, which was 42 weeks in the academic year, but some parents did not understand, hence there would be a Parent Teacher Association (PTA) meeting to address the issue.

Pupils of the Nii Kojo Ababio Basic School at the time GNA visited were seen sweeping and cleaning their school in preparation for classes on Monday.

Some of the students said it was good for classes to resume since some of them had not learnt anything since the shutdown in March last year.