Open Letter To GES: Consult Parents On The Reopening Of Schools

The Director-General,

Ghana Education Service (GES),

Accra.

Dear Professor Opoku Amankwah,

Consensus Of Parent Teacher Associations And School Management Committees Vital To School Reopening Decision

Between 16th and 18th of May, 2020, we organized an online discussion on the reopening of Schools as envisaged by the Ghana Education Service (GES) in their letter of 13th May, 2020 sent to Teacher Unions and other National Level Stakeholders. The twitter activity attracted over 20,000 participants using the hashtag #GhanaEducationForum. The outcomes are presented below for your kind attention:

1. In the midst of an increasing community spread, it is not advisable to consider reo-pening schools as lives of teachers, students and other school workers may be put at risk due to the difficulty in maintaining social distance at school and Water, Sanita-tion and Hygiene logistical constraints in schools. The GES should not advise gov-ernment to re-open schools now.

2. The GES’ future decision to reopen schools must be based on science with pub-lished, convincing data in support and consensus by stakeholders, especially par-ents.

3. Meanwhile, the discussion on whether/how to reopen schools in the immediate fu-ture must be initiated from the Parent Teacher Associations/School Management Committee level (SMC/PTA), after which any such decision must be based on CON-SENSUS. The GES must task school heads to facilitate SMC & PTA executive meet-ings in Basic and Senior High Schools and submit outcomes to the GES and the wider stakeholder community, while assuring SMCs and PTAs that it would be ready to lis-ten to their opinions.

4. Any attempt to reopen schools without CONSENSUS from parents and local com-munities will suffer patronage as many parents may not send their children to school.

Very sincerely yours,

Kofi Asare Executive Director