Principal allays fears of parents as school resumes

Professor Joseph Amikuzuno, the Principal of the Saint John Bosco College of Education in Navrongo in the Upper East Region, has assured parents and guardians of the safety of students on campus.

He said the College was fully prepared to receive a total of 917 students to commence the academic semester without any challenges, saying “Parents should be rest assured, we will do our best to make sure that we do not have a case of COVID-19 here.”

He said 600 first-year students and 317 second-year students were expected to report within the week and next week to start the academic semester and stressed that “In terms of our preparedness to handle our students as far as COVID-19 is concerned, we are well prepared.”

Professor Amikuzuno who spoke to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Navrongo, the Kassena-Nankana Municipal capital, indicated that management of the College started preparations in November last year in readiness for re-opening of learning institutions.

He said besides measures instituted to ensure strict adherence to the COVID-19 protocols among students and staff, especially the use of face masks and the social distancing protocols, there were also handwashing facilities placed at vantage points on campus.

“Just last weekend, the entire campus was fumigated. We check to ensure that students who report have their hand sanitisers and at least two nose masks as their own protective items,” the Principal said.

He said lectures would begin next week and noted that it would be the first lecture experience for the fresh students at the tertiary level and added that the second-year students already had their first semester lectures of the last academic year.

Professor Amikuzuno said they would have face to face lectures for six weeks, and then return home for another six weeks of online lectures, while the first-year students would stay on campus for the entire semester.

He further indicated that “We also have third years, but for the first six weeks of this semester, they will be at home for online lectures and when the second years leave after six weeks, the third years will come and do another six weeks on campus before exams are taken.”

The Principal said to avoid congestion in lecture halls, management would divide most of the large halls into two to reduce the numbers and for proper adherence to the social distancing protocol.

He said in spite of the existence of COVID-19, academic activities could not be on hold and advised all students, to pay keen attention to all the protocols rolled out by the Ghana Health Service.

Professor Amikuzuno noted that even though the virus was real, management would not compromise on the academic content of their programmes saying “We are still coming to continue with lectures as much as possible, our students will do practical training.

“We are going to leverage on every resource and every opportunity that we have because we don’t even know what will happen in the next few weeks. But we do hope that we will be on campus for the rest of the semester without any mishap,” he said.

When the GNA toured the campus, it observed that some students had reported and were taken through the registration process with their face masks on while “No face masks, No entry” signs were posted on several doors on campus.

Some first-year students, who spoke to the GNA on condition of anonymity, said they were happy to report amidst the challenges of COVID-19, and were anxious to start lectures.