Reopen schools September 22 or else – Akufo-Addo told

The Akufo-Addo government has been given up to September 22, 2020, to reopen schools in the country or else a Coalition of Private School Teachers, Ghana (CPST-GH) says it will go on demonstration and the worst boycott the upcoming general elections scheduled for December 7, 2020.

According to the Coalition, since the unexpected closure of schools, private school teachers have not received any salary or support from the government unlike their colleagues teachers in the public sector.

“Since schools were closed in March, most private school teachers have stayed without salaries. For about six months that children have been kept out of school, teachers in the government sector have enjoyed full salaries without work and the closure of schools have paved [the] way for public sector teachers to reap from where they have not sown”, they said.

“plight of private school teachers have been pathetic” since the Coronavirus pandemic forced schools to close down nearly 6 months ago, adding that some of their members had died due to poverty and an inability to pay for medical care”, they lamented.

They lamented of the fact that “the stimulus packages given did not reach private school teachers and we have all been left to our fate,”

They added “One would have thought that, as the active cases significantly reduced, hence, paving way for the President to begin easing restrictions, putting children back to school would have been a priority for the government.

The Coalition is the statement copied to Georgeweb.org said they found it strange that drinking bars, commercial vehicles among other activities had been “prioritized over children going back to school without taking into consideration the negative effect children are going through while at home”.

Commenting on the school reopening committee they said “the President had tasked the Senior Minister’s Committee to come out with modalities for school re-opening. In another breathe, the Minister of Education comes out to say he has also formed another committee and expecting a report by 21st September whereas the Director-General of GES makes a completely different statement that, they will not rush to open schools.”

The Coalition of Private School Teachers Ghana in a press statement stated that the inconsistency in government’s communication concerning the reopening of schools was indicative of the fact that government does not prioritise educating children and is oblivious to the plight of private school teachers who have not been paid for the past six months.

The Coalition in the view of the above concerns is, therefore, demanding that schools fully reopen in the country by September 22 or the Akufo-Addo government face the consequences of them registering their “protest through demonstrations across the country … as well as boycotting this year’s Presidential and Parliamentary elections”.

Source: Georgeweb.org