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The Public Relations Officer (PRO) for the Ministry of Education, Kwasi Kwarteng, has opposed the calls to shut down schools during the ongoing teacher unions’ strike.
According to a deputy ranking member on the Education Committee of Parliament, Dr. Clement Apaak, 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.
He raised concerns about student safety and questioned that “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?” and therefore asked the GES to close the schools until the strike is over.
But Mr. Kwasi Kwarteng rebutted that “my response to Dr. Clement Apaak is that when the teachers close and go home, who takes care of the children? Is it not the same management in the school who does that, is it not the same number of students…that’s the first thing I will ask him.”
Using an anecdote, Mr. Kwarteng further replied that “when you are going home after work and your road has potholes, do you block the road or you use a bypass until the problem is fixed permanently.”
In the case of the Senior High Schools, the PRO for the Ministry noted that the welfare of the students is being taken care of regarding food among others.
He defended that Ghanaians should not jump the gun because “all consequential decisions would be made based on the outcome of the meeting” between the four teacher unions and the ministry.
“The other solution is to address the concerns of the teachers and then they return to school”, he told Kwamina Sam Biney on Angel FM’s Anopa Bofo Morning Show.
Checks by Angel News indicate that some students have not reported to school and some Basic schools have shut down contrary to GES’ directive
