School Reopening: Parents have no excuse not to send children to school — Ntim-Fordjour

The Reverend John Ntim-Fordjour, Deputy Minister of Education, says parents have no excuse not to send their children to school.

He said because Government had made education free from pre-school to Senior High School.

The Deputy Minister said this on Tuesday when he toured the Sakumono School Complex in Accra to observe the annual "My First Day in School" and to welcome the newly admitted pupils to the learning environment.

The Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service have collaborated to establish “My First Day At School,” to complement the efforts of school leaders to facilitate children's entry into the education system at the beginning of the academic year.

The Minister presented the pupils with learning materials, includin books, pencils, erasers, crayons, and sanitisers to enhance learning and make them to feel welcomed in their new environment.

The Rev Ntim-Fordjour said the Government had repositioned the educational system to ensure quality teaching and learning in schools.

The Government, he said would work assiduously to meet the Sustainable Development Goals four-“to ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes.”

That, he explained was necessary because education was the bedrock to the socio-economic development of every country.

"Government will continue to invest in education and ensure that all children have access to quality education and produced responsible professionals for the country's development," he said.

The Rev Ntim-Fordjour advised the pupils to learn hard to become responsible citizens, saying "we will continue to equip the pupils with the requisite knowledge, skills and aptitude to compete with the best in the world."

Ms Monica Ankrah, the Greater Accra Regional Director of Education, commended teachers for their efforts and urged them to teach and mentor the pupils to become responsible leaders.

She advised the teachers to initiate innovative ideas that would ease learning in the classroom, especially at the Creche and lower Primary levels and appealed to them to make the teaching environment home for the kids.

Ms Anna Adukwei Addo, the Municipal Chief Executive for Tema West, assured stakeholders that the environment was safe for the resumption of school activities.

Madam Joyce Danso, the Headmistress of Sakumono School Complex, said the attendance for the first day was encouraging and that the teachers and non-teaching staff were ready to ensure sound and effective academic activities.

She said the School's Complex "1" had 92 new entrants in class one (A and B) out of the total number of 100 while Complex "2" had 82.

The Ghana News Agency observed that all the COVID-19 preventive protocols have been put in place to ensure the safety of the pupils.

The pupils were seen wearing nose masks with veronica buckets placed at vantage points.

The Ghana Education Service announced the reopening of all public basic schools in the country on Tuesday, January 18, 2022.

GNA