A few months back at the height of this global Corona Virus pandemic that we are saddled with as a country alongside the rest of the world, we needed to decide the fate of our SHS and JHS finalists who were supposed to be writing their exit examinations in April and June respectively.
However, much as the Covid-19 pandemic raged, the president and his cabinet recognised the importance of the need to allow the SHS/JHS finalists to write their exit examinations, which would have to take place under strict adherence to all Covid-19 preventive protocols.
Even though the local data and science pertaining to this pandemic supported the decision of the president to reopen schools to the finalists, the naysayers predicted doom for this country.
They argued that their data and science suggested government abandon any plan to reopen schools to these finalists as any attempt to do so would skyrocket our case count to levels our health infrastructure could not contain.
Other pessimists were also of the view that such a decision to reopen schools was purely politically motivated, and not for the benefit of our children, and that the president surreptitiously wanted to enrol these SHS students onto the new voters register as if they were ordinarily barred from registering at their various home locations.
The President being the firm and decisive man he is, through his able education lieutenant, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, stood by his convictions and subsequently ensured that schools were reopened safely with strict adherence to all Covid-19 protocols.
Thanks to a decisive President, the SHS finalists are done with their final exams without any of the naysayers’ prophecies coming to fruition.
There was no surge in our national case count except for a few of the students who had probably contracted the disease before returning to their various schools and whom have since been declared Covid-free.
The SHS graduates are not only excited to have completed their WASSCE but are also full of gratitude to His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo for taking such a bold decision even in the face of fierce opposition, while also keeping true to his pre-pandemic promise to have the government cover the cost of WASSCE examination feeswhen others would have cancelled this initiative in light of the current circumstances.
Fellow Ghanaians, the choice is yours come December 7, choose a firm and decisive leader in the person of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo Addo.
The author of this article is Kwaku Yeboah.
