President Akufo-Addo reopens schools for final year students

Schools across the country have been reopened solely for final year students as part of measures to ease restrictions in Ghana’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in his 10th televised address to the nation said the move is to prepare and enable the students to take their final examinations.

According to him, the reopening is with the appropriate enhanced safety protocols and social distancing adherence.

Final year university students are expected to resume school on Monday, June 15, 2020.

“All final year students of educational and training institutions, which are being managed by Ministries other than the Education Ministry, are to return to school on 15th June to complete their exit examinations”, the President said.

Whereas final year SHS students return to school on Monday, June 22, 2020, their counterparts in Junior High Schools will go back to school on Monday, June 29, 2020.

“From Monday, 15th June 2020, the decision has been taken, after engagement with the Teacher Unions, whose co-operation I salute, to reopen schools and universities to allow for final-year junior high, senior high and university students to resume classes ahead of the conduct of their respective exit examinations. Indeed, final year university students are to report to their universities on 15th June; final year senior high school (SHS
3) students, together with SHS 2 Gold Track students, on 22nd June; and final-year junior high school (JHS 3) students on 29th June. JHS 3 classes will comprise a maximum of thirty (30) students; SHS classes a maximum of
twenty-five (25) students, and University lectures will take place with half the class sizes”, he added.

However, teaching and learning activities for all other levels remain closed.

“Again, prior to the opening of schools and universities, the Ministry of Education, and the heads of public and private educational institutions, will fumigate and disinfect their institutions. Each student, teacher, and nonteaching staff will be provided with re-usable face masks by the Ministry of Education. For the avoidance of doubt, all other educational facilities, private and public, for non-final year students, will remain closed. The Minister for Education, in the coming days, will outline, in detail, the specific guidelines for the safe reopening of our schools and universities” Nana Addo noted.
To reopen or not to reopen