The Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) of Tema has visited some basic schools in the Tema Metropolis to assess the school children's safety and how they are adjusting to the school environment after a long absence.

As part of the visit, Mr. Felix Mensah Nii Annang-La distributed nose masks and stationery to the pupils to encourage them to stick to the Covid-19 protocols and concentrate on their studies.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on Tuesday during the visit, the MCE said that, even though the children were happy to return to school and for the fact that their teachers had ensured strict adherence to the Covid-19 Protocols, there still existed a problem with Social Distancing, which ought to be addressed urgently.

This, Mr. Nii Annang-La observed, was due to inadequate desks, which made ensuring Social Distancing difficult. “But we have taken notice of the situation and would act accordingly,” the MCE assured.

In that regard, he indicated the need to give children the best of facilities to aid in their studies since their stage was very critical should the child grow to become the responsible person society expected them to be.

Mr. Annang-La therefore informed of the acquisition of 2,000 furniture for the Senior High Schools, and would, as a matter of urgency, work to resolve the furniture deficit at the basic level within the Metropolis.

He indicated that, as part of the Assembly’s efforts to create a serene environment for the pupils to learn, TMA would continue with her school walling project and ensure that all public schools within the Metropolis were free from intruders who posed a threat to the lives of pupils and teachers in the various basic schools.

The Tema Metropolitan Director of Education, Mrs. Bernice Ofori, in assuring the public of the safety of the children in school, said, “We have trained teachers of the various schools within the metropolis on how to help the children observe the Covid-19 protocols so that the children gradually pick it up as a habit.”

As such, Mrs. Ofori indicated that Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) had been supplied to all schools within the metropolis, which aid ensure the health and safety of teachers and pupils.

The Metro Director of Education hinted that attendance on the day of reopening was not encouraging and so her outfit would embark of a back-to-school campaign to get parents who were still harbouring some fears regarding the safety of their wards to release them for academic work.

She informed that the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Ghana Health Service (GHS) were collaborating to ensure that they contained the spread of the Coronavirus whilst schools were in session.

To that, Mrs. Ofori said the GES and GHS had mapped the schools with the hospitals with Health and Education Coordinators standing by to make sure teachers knew whom to report to in times of medical emergencies.

Some of the schools visited by the MCE and her entourage included Oninku Drive Basic Schools, Community One, Republic Road Basic Schools, Community Four, Ramaniyya Islamic Basic School, Community 12, and Rose Sharon Basic School, Community 12.