Ebola Scare: Hand sanitisers to be distributed to pupils nationwide

The Ghana Education Service (GES) is in talks with the Ghana Health Service to provide hand sanitizers at all basic and high schools across the country as a measure to control the spread of Ebola in case of an outbreak.

Teachers will also be trained on symptoms of the deadly disease “so that when they see such signs form pupils, they will be able to refer them to the nearest health facility.”

Speaking to TV3’s Portia Gabor in an interview on Monday, August 18, the Head of Public Relations Directorate of GES, Charles Parker Allotey, admitted that some students may have travelled with their parents during the vacation, and it has become necessary; as a result, that a mechanism is put in place to screen all during reopening.

This will be done in both public and private schools, he said.

Already, government through the Inter-Ministerial Team on Ebola has announced that foreign students of tertiary institutions across the country will be thoroughly screened upon reopening, which has been delayed for two weeks.

Calls have been made to government to delay the reopening of basic and high schools in the face of a possible outbreak of Ebola, which has killed over 1,000 people in four West African nations so far.

Basic and high schools are expected to reopen latest by September 16 and Mr Parker-Allotey maintains plans have been put in place to protect pupils.

“As an agency under the Ministry, we have taken a cue from the postponement of the reopening of tertiary institutions,” he said.

“However, we are monitoring the situation closely to see whether we will hear fresh cases or not.”