Coronavirus: Teacher unions plead with govt to postpone WASSCE, BECE

The Teachers Union of Ghana together with the National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and its affiliates have pleaded with President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo to consider the postponement of the upcoming final exams for both the Junior and Senior High Schools.

Addressing media personnel at a press conference organized by the association yesterday, the General Secretary for GNAT, Thomas Musah, had this to say, “we commend the government for its efforts and steps taken to help prevent the spread of the Coronavirus. We as Ghanaians are appreciative for the $100 million financial commitment to fight the virus and the closing of all schools to prevent further spread of the virus”.

According to him, the president’s directive for all schools and academic activities to be halted excluded final year students preparing to write their final exams but this needs to be revisited. “The president asked us to continue teaching those sitting for their Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) this year, but with prescribed social protocols which will be impossible to keep”.

On his authority, the social distancing protocol will not work between teachers and students as they (teachers) have at least 6 long hours of contact with students per day, and they also have to engage and get closer to students on a daily basis which is a part of the learning and understanding process. He lamented that such long contact hours can lead to the transmission of the virus and called on the president to suspend teaching and learning for the finalists and teachers too.

He went on to plead with the president to consult and reach out to heads of fellow West African countries who participate in same exams (WASSCE) to postpone it.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, a total closure of all public and private educational facilities in the country effective Monday, March 16 after the country recorded a sixth case of the novel coronavirus on Sunday, March 15.

He, however, directed that, final year students preparing to write the BECE and WASSCE should be exempted from the closure and receive tuition from their teachers as their examination draws near.