Postponement of school reopening was in the interest of students – Educationist

Dean and Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Education, University for Development Studies (UDS), Dr. Ibrahim Gunu says the postponement of SHS 3 school reopening date to May 5 was done “with the best interest of students at heart”.

He argued that the reopening of schools goes beyond the availability of facilities to extra costs that have been brought about because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Even before COVID-19 and free SHS, schools were suffering from infrastructural deficits. The reopening of schools this time around goes beyond facilities to cost in ensuring the strictest adherence to COVID-19 safety protocols”, he said in response to critics claiming the infrastructural pressure from free SHS had forced the Ghana Education Service (GES) to postpone school reopening.

According to him, education is a collaborative effort “and we should try to depoliticise it. We need to assist the GES to give students and our wards the best education there is. We need to work with significant stakeholders who will help improve the education of our wards and this must be stated clearly”.

He admitted that parents and final year students alike had gone through one form of stress or another for having travelled from far and near to their schools only to be turned back home. “But one must know that this was done in the best interest of the student”, he reiterated.

The educationist made his position known in an interview with Raymond Nyamador on the Happy Morning Show aired on e.TV Ghana and Happy98.9FM.

Dr, Gunu however commended the GES for apologising for the late communication on the postponement of the reopening date and also for assuring students their instructional period and their full 1,080 hours needed prior to the final examination.

Offering solutions to such occurrences, the educationist advised the GES to take a critical look at integrating holistically ICT into the educational curriculum. “And I think that can help us as a country”.

Background

The Ghana Education Service (GES) has rescheduled the reopening of schools for form 3 Senior High School students to May 5.

According to the Service, this followed a proposal from the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS).

The form 3 students were to have reported to school on 6th April 2020 and be in school until 28th May 2021.

“The current arrangement, therefore, means that when the final year students report on 5th May 2021, they will be in school until they write their WASSCE,” a GES statement noted.

“Management of GES, therefore, considers this, as a better option where the students will not break their instructional period and have their full 1,080 hours needed prior to the final examination”, portions of the statement read.