Stop endangering the lives of our students – Afia Schwarzenegger tells Akufo-Addo

Self acclaimed queen of Ghana comedy, Afia Schwarzenegger, has asked the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to stop endangering the lives of students who were asked to go back to school to write their exit exams, and advise the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service to allow the students to come back home before the infection rate at the schools get out of hand.

Afia Schwarzenegger in a video sighted by Ghanaweb.com expressed her discomfort at the continuous stay of students in school after some schools recorded a number of infections.

She appealed to the president to let them repeat the year if they have to, to curb the spread and prevent any impending deaths. Her appeal comes on the back of some schools reporting coronavirus infections over the past few days.

Citing schools such as KNUST SHS, Accra Girls and Kumasi High, Afia Schwarzenegger, whose children are home with her, said she is petrified as a mother hearing stories about the number of infections, and the death of a student at KNUST SHS, who didn’t receive any help from the teachers because they suspected he had coronavirus.

Afia said as a citizen and not a spectator, she is worried about the situation, and is wondering when the president will direct the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service to close down schools so children could go home to their parents.

She said, “Mr. President, if you have not heard, Accra Girls Senior High School, six students have contracted coronavirus. At KNUST SHS, a child died, none of the teachers assisted him because of fear of coronavirus. Kumasi High allegedly has recorded cases, so what are you doing about it? What is the ministry doing? Or you are looking on for this to get out of hand before something is done Mr. President? What at all will happen if they don’t write the exams? Are you waiting for all the children to get infected?

It would be recalled that over the past week, reports have been rife in the media about some schools reporting cases of coronavirus infections.

News reports had it that a teacher, together with the spouse and six other students at Accra Girls Senior High School (AGISS) tested positive for the novel COVID-19.

This was confirmed by a joint statement signed by Dr Patrick Kuma Aboagye, Director General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and Professor Kwasi Opoku-Agyemang, Director General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), on July 6, 2020.

On Wednesday, there were reports also of a student of the KNUST senior high school in Kumasi who died after suffering corona-like symptoms while in school.

In a video that went viral on social media, the student was seen sitting on a table and being supported by four male students while he suffered for breath whiles some of the teachers watched unconcerned as the student’s life gradually left his body over fears he had the coronavirus.