Postponement of the school calendar: the government did not consult relevant stakeholders

General news for Tuesday, September 1, 2020

Source: Peace FM

2020-09-01

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The highest-ranking Member of Parliament on the Select Committee on Education, Dr. Clement Apaak has stated that the Akufo-Addo government is not being candid on the issue of consulting relevant stakeholders on the decision to postpone daycare, kindergarten, elementary, JHS1 and SHS1. academic calendar until 2021.

The 2019/2020 academic calendar for Nursery, Primary, JHS 1 and SHS 1 has been postponed until 2021.

The next academic calendar will resume in January 2021, according to President Akufo-Addo in his 16th address to the nation.

“The Ghana Education Service, after further consultation, has decided to postpone the remainder of the academic year for all Kindergarten, Kindergarten, Primary, JHS 1 and SHS 1 students. The next academic year will resume in January 2021 , with the necessary adjustments to the curriculum, to ensure that nothing is lost from the previous year. “

Second-year high school (JHS) and upper secondary (SHS) students will resume on October 5, according to President Akufo-Addo.

Akufo-Addo is not sincere

But commenting on Okay FM’s ‘Ade Akye Abia’ morning show, the Builsa South Member of Parliament (MP) insisted that President Akufo-Addo’s claim to have consulted relevant stakeholders in the education sector it cannot be true.

He added that in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic there have been debates about whether to allow children to return to school or stay at home to allow the academic year to elapse to begin again in the next academic year in 2021..

According to him, President Akufo-Addo, who delivered his fifteenth address to the nation, called for a thorough and detailed debate; Therefore, Education Minister Dr. Matthew Opoku-Prempeh, in that regard, unveiled a 10-member committee, comprised of representatives from private schools, GES, and others mandated to consult with stakeholders to provide recommendations and ostensibly report to the Minister and, finally, to the President.

To him, the committee was given on September 21 to finalize the consultation and make the final decision; Therefore, the president’s announcement that he has finalized a consultation with relevant stakeholders to decide that SHS1 and JHS1 students resume school cannot be true as some of the relevant stakeholders have denied any consultation with the government.

He hinted that some of the members of the 10-member committee that were supposed to hold the consultation allegedly said that the announcement by President Akufo-Addo, who claims to have consulted relevant stakeholders, took them by surprise.

“The committee was also a member of the Ghana Private Schools Council, but they said they were never invited to any business indicating that the decisions were made on the basis of consultations on the announcement of the reopening,” he said.

“NAGRAT is a key player when it comes to matters related to pre-tertiary education and I think GNAT is also a key player and I have not listened to GNAT, but NAGRAT President Angel Kabonu has said that NAGRAT was never consulted ; their opinions were never solicited. . . They were caught off guard by the president’s announcement. . . ”, He revealed.

Reopening Commission Inaugurated

Education Minister Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh called for the collaboration of all stakeholders ahead of the government’s plans to reopen schools following their closure in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.

Dr. Prempeh made this call on August 20 when he inaugurated a 10-member committee in Accra to deliberate and advise on modalities for reopening schools in the pre-tertiary subsector for the approval of the President.

He told the committee that in its deliberations it must ensure that all stakeholders are involved in crafting its recommendations for transmission to the chair and thanked them for accepting this important national assignment.

In response, the Chairman of the Committee, Prof. Dominic Fobih, former Minister of Education and currently Chairman of the GETFund Board, thanked the Minister for entrusting them with this responsibility and assured him that the committee would be diligent in all respects. your deliberations and learn lessons from the recent limited reopening for seniors.

The committee was expected to report back to the Minister on Monday, September 21, 2020 on its recommendations.