The National Council of Parent-Teacher Association says in order for boarding students to stay in touch with their parents and guardians, they should be allowed to carry along feature phones.
President Nana Akufo-Addo on Sunday, May 31, 2020, announced that schools be reopened to final year students to enable them to prepare well and write their West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
The Education Minister, Matthew Opoku Prempeh at press briefing yesterday, gave out the guidelines for the re-opening of schools. He further said, final year students will spend 7 weeks for academic works and 4 weeks for exams.
The Education Minister added that, no parent or guardian would be allowed to visit students as the government wants to avoid external contacts due to the COVID-19 outbreak, within the period.
The PTA Council argued that with the directives that parents cannot visit their wards when schools reopen, such an alternative means of communication must be allowed. The council says the only means to allow parents to gets easy access to their wards is to give their wards feature phones, amidst COVID-19 outbreak.
The President of the National Council of Parent-Teacher Association, Mr. Alexander Danso pleaded with the government to consider their request.
“Barring their parents from visiting them is quite unfortunate but I understand them because if you allow parents to be going at this time of the COVID-19 outbreak [it won’t be the best]. If they are not allowing parents to visit, at least they should allow the students to carry feature phones only for calls and SMS so that they will be able to interact with their parents because staying in one place without seeing your child for 11 weeks will be a problem,” he said.
Most parents have shown their bitterness about the measures and other have welcomed it. Some parents are urging the government to find some possible ways for them to communicate with their wards in school amidst the COVID-19 outbreak
SOURCE: ALEX AIKINS (OYEREPA FM)
