JUST IN: BECE,WASSCE Candidates not going home; GES outlines 5 ways of Protecting them against COVID-19

Candidates of the forthcoming Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) shall remain on campus to be prepared by their teachers towards the 2020 Examinations.

According to reports gathered by EducationGhana, a meeting was held by the Director-General and his two Deputies with other notable stakeholders on Wednesday, 18th March 2020 to discuss the Presidents directive on the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Other stakeholders at the meeting include; the Director in Charge of the Office of the Director-Genera, Association of Principals of Technical Institutions( APTI), Conference of Heads of Basic Schools (COBHS) , the Director in charge of Basic and Secondary Education. as well as the Financial Controller of the Ghana Education Service (GES).

Discussions at the meeting indicate a purposeful look at the Directive issued by the President that concerned the schools as well as how they could be implemented.

Participants were made to understand, that the primary concern should be how to implement the directive as GES and not what the President has not directed.

After the discussions, the meeting arrived at these conclusions which may be subject to a directive by the Director-General in due course:

1. That all-day students in the final year should be made to join their Colleagues in the Boarding house to augment the isolation strategy.
2. That schools in (especially the Greater Accra Region)which are day and schools with a high number of students which may not be able to accommodate all students on board should declare their numbers so that they could be sent to other schools.
3. That there will be the possibility of all schools that have hostels to be activated to accommodate some of the students.
4. That there will be Veronica buckets and detergents provided in the schools by the collaboration of the Ghana Education Service and the Ghana Health Services to ensure every student and teacher wash their hands before and after lessons.
5. That there will be infra-red thermometers in the schools to check the temperature of students before and after school.

Meanwhile, discussions could be held within the affected regions and Institutions as to how to do the mapping of the schools and the incentive packages to teachers.

Teachers’ agitations

Earlier, some four teacher unions had asked the government to reconsider its decision to allow Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) to continue going to school despite the decision of the President to shut down all Schools due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic.

The Teacher Unions include the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Teachers and Education Workers Union (TEWU) and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers-Ghana (CCT-GH).

GNAT Calls for Protective gears

Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) said it shall engage the Ghana Education Service (GES) to discuss plans for the deployment of occupational health and safety kits to protect teachers against the novel coronavirus.

GNAT wants government to as soon as possible provide its members with Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) as detailed in section 118 of the labour law.

NAGRAT calls for a total shut down

The National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) also pushed for the government to order all final year students in junior high and senior high schools and their teachers to go home.

President of NAGRAT, Angel Carbonu, however, said the decision to keep the final year students and teachers on campus is unacceptable.

ATAG supports gov’t

All Teachers Alliance Ghana (ATAG) a pre-tertiary teacher union has stated emphatically, that it disagrees with the stance of some four teacher unions, who said the government should allow the final year WASSCE and BECE Candidates to go home due o the Coronavirus Pandemic.

In a statement issued by its general secretary, Albert Dadson, on March 17, 2020, the Union claimed the stance of the other four Unions on the CoronaVIRUS was misplaced.