EDUWATCH CALLS ON GOVERNMENT TO REOPEN SCHOOLS FOR FINAL YEAR STUDENTS

Africa Education Watch (EduWatch), an education-based advocacy group has called on the government to consider the reopening of schools with final year junior or senior schools.

This move is to enable students to write the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and the West African Senior School Certificate Examination ( WASSCE)

Commence reopening with only junior high school and senior high school three students from July to August to write their examination based on the anticipated WAEC timetable.

“They should study the outcomes of the JHS three and SHS three pilot and use that to improve the reopening of the entire school (in batches) in September to commence the 2020-2021 academic year,” a 10-point proposal from EduWatch to the GES signed by its Executive Director, Mr Kofi Asare, said.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on March 15, this year, announced the indefinite closure of schools beginning Monday, March 16, 2020, following reports of six persons testing positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) disease in the country.

And on May 13, 2020, the GES wrote to the teacher unions asking for their inputs to ensure the safe return of students.

EduWatch said there was the need to create two batches of students in basic schools for morning and afternoon sessions. Morning, it said should be from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 am. and then afternoon from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

At the senior high school level, it said green and gold tracks should be divided into two with each of the four batches of students attending school for 40 days at a time.

That, it said, would halve classes to a maximum of 30 students per class.

“Recruit more teachers to support the 320 days of constant teaching,” it added.

Source: Peacefmonline