An Urgent Call For A Documented COVID-19 School Management Guideline For All School Heads

Africa Education Watch works with governments, private sector, and civil society to promote efficient education policy management & reform by drawing on cross-cultural, trans-national and international comparative perspectives in Africa.

We are informed of apprehensions between PTA members (parents) and school authorities at Accra Girls SHS on the reported case of six (6) COVID 19 cases, for which parents had gone to withdraw their children from the school. Apparently, parents had no information of the outbreak, even though they are on the same WhatsApp communication platform for the PTA members, which includes the school’s head. Parents were therefore aggrieved they had been denied vital information regarding the security of their children since the cases were detected a week ago and suspected there was an attempt to withhold crucial information on the welfare of the children.

Ahead of re-opening, Africa Education Watch called on the GES to develop Guidelines for managing COVID-19 Compliant Schools and train teachers on how to run the schools with these guidelines and protocols. Our checks reveal there are STILL no such written guidelines available to school heads, neither have they been trained in any.

For emphasis, the existence of a Documented Operational Guideline or Manual for managing schools is an essential pre-requisite for managing the school to prevent any COVID-19 outbreak, while detailing measures that must be taken in the event of an outbreak.

These protocols include a communications protocol, which in the case of Accra Girls SHS, could have prevented today’s unnecessary scuffle with school and security officials. Other pertinent issues, including how many infections could necessitate the closure of a school, among others, should find expression in this guideline.

In many other counties that have reopened schools, including Sierra Leone which reopened only days ago, such protocols are documented, published, and given to the school leadership for referencing and compliance.

We are once again appealing to the GES to develop, publish, and disseminate COVID-19 School Management Guideline, and provide orientation for all school heads & senior house masters on how to manage a COVID-19 compliant school. This would streamline the response of school authorities in managing COVID-19 issues in school.

Very sincerely,

Kofi Asare Executive Director