The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has announced the re-opening of public and private schools to final year students to enable them write their respective exit exams.
According to the President, final year students of the universities are to report to their campuses on June 15, 2020, whereas those in Senior High Schools (SHS) as well as SHS 2, Gold Truck students, are to report to school on June 22, 2020.
Final year students of Junior High Schools (JHS) are to report on June 29, 2020. Final year students of educational and training institutions, which are being managed by Ministries other than the Education Ministry, are to also return to school on June 15, 2020, to complete their exit examinations.
In his 10th update to the nation on Sunday, May 31, 2020, over measures taken against the spread of the novel coronavirus, President Akufo-Addo, noted that classes for JHS 3 students will comprise a maximum of 30 students whereas that of SHS3 students will have a maximum of 25 students.
University lectures will take place with half the class sizes, he noted.
“Each student, teacher, and non-teaching staff will be provided with re-usable face masks by the Ministry of Education”, he stressed.
All other educational facilities, private and public for non-final year students, however, remain closed.
President Akufo-Addo on March 16, 2020, shut down all educational institutions – universities, second cycle schools and basic schools to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease.
The decision to ease the restrictions, according to the President, follows stakeholder consultations over the last few weeks with entities in the health, labour, religious, chieftaincy, educational, hospitality, transport, sports, tourism and creative arts sectors.
These consultations, he noted, have largely been hinged on analysis of the data gathered and the adoption of best practices and experiences of other countries that have attempted to move on in the wake of the pandemic.
“A consensus has emerged from these consultations that we should embark on a strategic, controlled, progressive, safe easing of restrictions to get our lives and economy back to normal”, he said.
President Akufo-Addo further noted that the easing of restrictions will be a phased approach, involving a selected list of public gatherings, based on their risk profile, socio-economic impact, and, most importantly, the country’s capacity to enforce and respond, in the event of a flare up in its number of infections.
The country’s borders still remain closed until further notice.
