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President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has urged the Conference of Heads of Assisted Senior High Schools (CHASS) to ensure that the coronavirus (COVID-19) safety protocols are strictly adhered to when schools resume on Monday, June 22, 2020

In a meeting with the members of CHASS at the Jubilee House in Accra yesterday, President Akufo-Addo stressed the need for the heads of the schools to ensure that students, teachers and non-teaching staff wear facemasks, observe social distancing protocols and practise good hygiene.

Following the outbreak of the coronavirus in the country, school activities in all educational institutions across the country were suspended on March 16, 2020.

The government has lifted the ban and has asked final year students in the universities, senior and junior high schools to return to school and complete their academic education, while observing the safety protocols.

Already university students have resumed lectures. Final year students in the lower educational institutions are expected to go back to school on Monday.

In all, about 800,000 people comprising students, teachers, and non-teaching staff are expected in school from Monday. The government has taken a decision to supply 2.4 million facemasks to the various schools.

“We need to do whatever we can to ensure the pandemic does not undermine the prospect of students,” he said, adding, “it’s not going to be easy because you are going to operate in different circumstances.”

President Akufo-Addo said the government would not relent on its efforts to fight against the COVID-19 but added that “there is a need to find a way to open up societies and get back to normal.”

The Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo-Maafo, said by Sunday, all the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) would have been distributed to the various schools.

In the five northern regions, he said distribution will be done by the Ghana Airforce, and added that distribution in the other regions will be done through “trucking system”.

The Senior Minister said the zones established by the Ministry of Education in its administration of education in the country will be used for the distribution of the PPEs.

“There are five categories of beneficiaries of these PPEs. All students, teaching staff, non-teaching staff, all invigilators, are going to be beneficiaries of the PPEs. Meaning we are going to include the district education officers and all the people who are going to be responsible for administering education and examinations,” he said.

Mr Osafo-Maafo said nobody in the education system will be left out in the distribution of the PPEs.