Accra Girls SHS: Don’t allow students go home, allow authorities handle the situation - CHASS

The National President of the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS), Alhaji Yacoub A.B. Abubakari, has advised distressed parents to abolish their mission of withdrawing their wards from the Accra Girls SHS following six recorded cases of COVID-19 in the school.

Students from Accra Girls Senior High School, who have been stricken with fear, demonstrated on their school campus calling management to allow them to go home on Monday, June 6, 2020.

Upon GhanaWeb’s arrival at the school, the news team witnessed a growing number of worried parents who had picketed at the school's entrance with the hope of withdrawing their wards from the boarding house after receiving news of the situation via the media.

Addressing the issue, the National CHASS President in an interview with GhanaWeb advised parents to reconsider their decision. He said, “they should not be allowed immediately to go home. They should allow the authorities to handle the situation. We are very sure that they will be able to address it adequately.”

Adding, “What I want to assure parents is that the schools have formed COVID-19 teams in our respective school. They have received training on how to handle such cases should they arrive. So now what is required of us is to exercise some patience and let the school authorities handle the case…who knows the status of each ward? If your ward has it and you are carrying them home, you are going to contaminate the whole house.”

Alhaji Abubakari also stressed the need for students who might have come in contact with the victims to be isolated, screened and tested for the virus.

He advised other school authorities to take a cue from the Accra Girls incident and manage information well in such cases to prevent creating fear and panic among students and parents.

“If information like these are just put in the air for parents to be aware that this is happening in this school, they will rush to the school out of confusion just to solve the problem and they may worsen the situation…if this should happen in any other Senior High School, they should find an appropriate way of informing the authorities (GES management) …to allow proper testing to be conducted and then we will be able to manage it better than what is going on.”