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A deputy ranking member on the Education Committee of parliament, Dr. Clement Apaak, has called on the Ghana Education Service (GES) to rescind its decision to keep schools open despite the ongoing teachers’ strike.
According to the Builsa South Member of Parliament, schools especially Basic Schools, should have been closed as soon as the four teacher unions withdrew their services in the interest of safeguarding pupils from danger.
In his view, it does not make sense to keep students in school during an indefinite nation-wide strike when the government cannot resolve the issues for teachers to return to class.
The GES in a July 5, 2022 statement said “Regional and District Directors have further been directed to ensure that Basic School Heads keep schools opened and closely supervise all children who report to school pending further directives from Management of GES.”
But speaking in an interview on Angel FM’s Anopa Bofo Morning Show, Dr. Apaak opined that “…the Basic schools should have been closed as at Tuesday…the GES must direct for the schools to shut down if today’s meeting does not yield any positive results. How can one headmaster monitor and ensure the safety and security of a school that has a student population of 3,000 or even 1,000? It is not practical or possible.”
Touching on issues of insecurity, the MP said “we are living in a very dangerous world and we know of the insecurity…we should not take the safety and security of the children for granted. It is not their fault [and] they must not become victims at another level when no teaching and learning is going on.”
The education sector, he believes, was already struggling with challenges until the teacher unions’ industrial action worsened matters.
He noted that the strike is unprecedented and the impact is huge because all the unions have never withdrawn their services all at once.
