Children at lower risk of contracting Coronavirus, it’s safe for them to be in school – Nii Armah Addy

Educationist Nii Armah Addy is against calls for the suspension of the reopening of primary and kindergarten schools in the country.

He says that such a stance, which is on the basis of the rising cases of Covid-19 infections, do not hold as children are less at risk of contracting the disease.

Earlier, the President of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Angel Carbonu, warned that the reopening of pre-schools might have serious consequences as pupils in the said groups are unable to fully appreciate the COVID-19 safety protocols.

But Nii Armah Addy, in an interview with UniversNews, agreed with the government, saying that it was safe to reopen for primary and kindergarten pupils.

“I don’t agree with the president of NAGRAT. If you read the literature or reports on Covid-19, you will see that spread among children or the kindergarten age is very minimal,” he said.

He was, however, quick to add that it was not to mean that caution should be thrown to the wind.

“…that is not to say is we shouldn’t be careful and therefore, the fear at that point is very minimal as compared to adults.”

Nii Armah also stressed the need for policymakers such as the Ghana Education Service to make educational counsellors and nurses available to schools who will intend help keep track of the students and help ensure covid-19 protocols are observed.

“We have policymakers like GES and the government to ensure that we have more counsellors in the school and that should be ensured and usually we have nurses who finish schools for two or three years before they are posted for work, if we have such of those students who have finished, they should be enrolled in the school temporarily for even three to four months as we wait for the covid situation.”