Coronavirus: Students could be exposed to rape predators when schools shut down – Napo

Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh,Minister of Education,Ghana

Among Matthew Opoku Prempeh’s numerous defenses for the government’s resolve to not shut down schools, despite the incessant calls to do so considering that Coronavirus cases have been recorded, is saving the students from danger and that includes falling victims to rape.

The Minister of Education has shot down the ‘shutdown of schools’ option, even though some state institutions have done so after some staff tested positive for Coronavirus.

“Do you know what may happen to some of them when they are home? They could be opened up to rape predators and other vices,” he argued in local dialect Asante Twi in an interview on Peace FM.

Check This Out: Book and Research Allowance: NPP and Bawumia’s Claim Jane Naana cancelled the allowance False

“I will be committing a sin if I ask that because of some few cases I ask that schools are closed down,” Dr. Opoku Prempeh explained.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in his address to the nation announced that final year students of various Senior High Schools and universities, will resume and prepare for their final examination as the government eases restrictions steadily.

Akufo-Addo explained that the decision to include the schools in phase one of the easing of restrictions was taken advisedly.

He said: “There is no one-size-fits-all approach to the resolution of this pandemic. We have our own unique situation in the country, and we have always taken that it into account in dealing with this disease, much as we are prepared to learn from the examples of others.”

“Education, indeed, is the key to the future of our country. The quality of education that our educational institutions produce, ultimately, will determine the success or otherwise of our nation. We, therefore, have to find a way of guaranteeing the prospects of the generation of young people who are the objects of education today, and who represent our future.”

 

Check This Out:  Coronavirus: Over 90% of Education Ministry staff positive – Minister confirms

Although the president stressed that measures have been put in place to protect the students, a number of cases have been confirmed in some schools, triggering suggestions for the government to rescind the decision to avoid escalation of the figures.

Nine students of Mpraeso Senior High School in the Kwahu South District of the Eastern Region have been isolated and are awaiting results of tests conducted on them. Prior to this, eight cases of Coronavirus were confirmed at Accra Girls’ Senior High School. News of the confirmation was met with agitation from students and parents.

A few days ago, a final-year student of KNUST SHS in Kumasi died on campus after bouts of vomiting and stomach issues. The school authorities, according to the students, neglected their colleague out of fear of contracting COVID-19, claim authorities have debunked.

In the midst of these, the Ashanti regional chairman of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) Dr Paa Kwasi Baidoo has appealed to the Ghana Education Service to reconsider the decision to put students in schools but the minister has contested that.

Check This Out: Book and Research Allowance: NPP and Bawumia’s Claim Jane Naana cancelled the allowance False

“To what extent should we close the schools? Nobody contracted the virus in the schools, they brought it from home. When you look at the protocols and consider isolation and quarantine, which place would be better to isolate and quarantine. For those saying we should close the schools, I don’t agree with them today or tomorrow. What is important is that the teachers and headmasters adhere to the protocols,” Dr. Opoku Prempeh said without equivocation.

Gathering more arsenals to defend his position, the minister reiterated that, despite the fact that the virus exists, there is still the need for every Ghanaian to play their respective roles in ensuring national growth while adhering to the safety protocols.

He said: “Who should go and work at the ports to generate revenue for people to be paid with. You are getting paid for your work and you say because of COVID you won’t get to work. If you don’t go to work who should work for you to be paid every month. That also does not mean when you go to work you shouldn’t protect yourself from COVID-19. We must go to work and we must protect ourselves and others from contracting the virus.”

The minister has called for the depoliticization of the issue.

Source: www.ghanaweb.com


SEND US YOUR STORIES FOR PUBLICATION VIA WHATSAPP NUMBER 0506440219

Get the Ghana Education Service New Standard – Based Scheme of Learning (SOL) HERE

Get the Ghana Education Service New Standard – Based Curriculum HERE

Get the  WAEC Marking Schemes HERE

Get the NaCCA/GES Standard -Based Lesson Plans HERE

Get the WAEC BECE, WASSCE, NTC Licensure Exam and Teachers’ Promotion Exam Past Questions HERE


Discover more from EducationGhana

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Previous articleAGISS COVID-19 situation: Taking your wards home bad option – Adutwum, as 648 contacts traced
Next articleCoronavirus: One student tests positive at Mawuko Girls SHS
Ellis Ferdinand
Ellis Ferdinand is a Journalist, Blogger and Founder of Ellis Multimedia, a parent company of EducationGhana.org, an Online Education News Blog, PoliticsGhana.com and GhanaNaija.net. Ellis Ferdinand is a Graduate of Accra College of Education and the University of Cape Coast, where he obtained a Diploma In Basic Education and a Bachelor of Education in Accounting. He is currently Reading his Master of Philosophy in Curriculum and Pedagogic Studies at the University of Education, Winneba in Ghana. Ellis Ferdinand won Blogger of the Year at the 2018 National Students’ Awards and was also adjudged 14th Best Ghanain Blogger in 2018 among the Top 50 Ghanaian Bloggers of 2018. He introduced the Concept of Education Blogging in Ghana in 2014 with his famous blog EducationGhana.net. now EducationGhana.org His Blog won Best Media Promoting Education in 2017, 2018 and 2019 respectively, an Award organized by Neogenics Education Consult. In 2019, He adjudged the Most Promising West African Blogger of the Year in Nigeria. He won Writer of the Year at the 2021 EDUCOM AWARDS

What's your take on this Latest Development?