<<Print>>

Minister of Education, Matthew Opoku Prempeh says the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed Ghana's education system and will have a long-term effect on the education sector.

Hon. Opoku Prempeh noted that the novel COVID-19 has taught the Education Ministry and its stakeholders positive lessons to catch up with the digital world.

On 12th March, 2020, Ghana recorded its first cases of the pandemic which resulted in a partial lockdown in some Regions and restrictions were imposed on public gatherings to safeguard the citizenry against infections of the virus.

The public gathering restrictions included the closure of all educational institutions in the country.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in his tenth nation update on COVID-19 on Sunday, May 31, eased the restrictions and allowed schools to open for only final year students.

However, due to the outbreak of the disease, the schools have adopted virtual teaching and learning for students.

Speaking in an interview with host Kwami Sefa Kayi on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo', the Sector Minister passed complimentary remarks about the impact of the online learning.

According to him, Ghana's "education will never be the same again after COVID-19".

"Now the Universities have been able to use virtual learning . . . We have seen that if we use the proper learning management software, we can even open access and double University capacities with very [very] little investment and put the Universities under 21st Century marketing . . . But we need to do that initial investment to make it worthwhile.

"We have noticed that the biggest problem with online education was quality. So, there are systems and there are Universities that have been set up doing basically online . . . So, there are systems to improve the quality aspect of online education. The University can have a system where those on virtual learning will congregate at the University at particular times for assessment and interact with the lecturers, and know that it is those people who are doing the courses who the lecturers say they're lecturing and the students say they're learning are true people. We have to use technology to get there . . . education will never be same again after this COVID-19," he said.