Schools resume today with final-year students - Akufo-Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said that final year tertiary students will resume school today, Monday, June 15, 2020.

Speaking to the nation from the Jubilee House on Sunday, June 14, 2020, Akufo-Addo added further that the final year JHS students will also resume on June 29, and will be followed by SHS final year students on 22 June.

He said, "From Monday, 15th June, the last batch of institutions in this phased approach, our educational institutions, will begin to re-open, with final-year students in our tertiary colleges and universities returning to school to prepare for and take their exit examinations.

He continued, "As has been stated, final year senior high school (SHS 3) students, together with SHS 2 Gold Track students, will resume on 22nd June; and final-year Junior High School (JHS 3) students, the week after, on 29th June."

Akufo-Addo explained that the decision to include the schools in phase one of the easing of restrictions was taken advisedly.

To those arguing that reopening of the schools put the lives of our students, teachers and non-teaching staff in danger, the president said, "there is no one-size-fits-all approach to the resolution of this pandemic. We have our own unique situation in the country, and we have always taken that it into account in dealing with this disease, much as we are prepared to learn from the examples of others."

Akufo-Addo noted, "Education, indeed, is the key to the future of our country. The quality of education that our educational institutions produce, ultimately, will determine the success or otherwise of our nation. We, therefore, have to find a way of guaranteeing the prospects of the generation of young people who are the objects of education today, and who represent our future."

He said Ghana as a country has everything within her power to protect the potential and preserve our future the young ones. Therefore, "We cannot afford to let the pandemic undermine our chances for survival and progress. We have to confront our present and future with confidence, knowing fully well that we must remain, at all times, vigilant and careful."

He further stated: "...operating with half the class size, final-year students will begin a six-week period of learning to finish their respective programmes. Subsequently, for a period of four weeks, they will sit for their exit examinations. It must be put on record that some final year University students will not be returning to school, as some of them, through virtual means, have already sat their exit examinations."

Ghana has currently recorded 11,964 Coronavirus cases with 4,258 recoveries and 54 deaths.