Teacher unions angry with GES over the proposal for school reopening amid COVID-19

The Ghana Education Service (GES) is being bombarded with fierce criticisms over a letter requesting proposals for reopening of schools in the country amid the Novel Coronavirus.

Some notable Teacher Unions including GNAT, NAGRAT, TEWU and CCT have opined that the GES letter which suggests there should be a stakeholder consultation to provide His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo with measures to be taken ahead of a possible reopening of all basic and senior high schools is unnecessary.

Speaking at a press conference in Accra, the General Secretary of GNAT – Mr. Thomas Musah had this to say;

“This particular letter which has come out is creating fear and panic among the rank and file of our members. Currently, the [COVID-19] figures we have are 5,735 with 29 deaths and when people are looking at these particular figures, certainly, it will create fear and panic among them”.

“We’re talking about a situation where when a teacher is going to school, the teacher will board trotro and you have certain children in a particular class coming from all walks of life. The question is, do we know the status of all the teachers who will be going to the schools? Have they been tested? The children, have they been tested? These are fundamental issues we should all establish”, he added.