Frequently Asked Questions on School Reopening 2020/2021

The Ghana Education Service (GES) has released the frequently asked questions on reopening of schools for KG, Primary JHS and SHS for the 2020/2021 academic year.

Q. Are our schools safe for kids under this COVID-19 pandemic?

A. On the advice from the experts from the GHS, it is safe to allow students to go back to school, learning from the experiences from the partial reopening of schools for 2nd and 3rd years of JHS and SHS.

Q. When will the learners in KG, Primary ad JHS report to school?

A. KG to JHS will reopen on Monday, 18th January, 2021.

Q. What measures have been put in place to ensure the safety of learners in schools under the COVID-19 pandemic?

A. The government of Ghana  in collaboration with the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Ghana Education Services (GES) and Ghana Ghana Health Service (GHS) have undertaken the following measures to guarantee the safety of our learners and staff:

• Disinfection of all schools before reopening.
• Veronica buckets, soaps, hand sanitisers and tissue papers to be provided to al schools.
• Washable and reusable face masks to be provided for all staff and learners.
• provision of thermometer guns for all schools.

Q. WIll the learners be promoted automatically?

A. Learners will move to the next level but would finish their lessons from where they left off before they continue with the syllables of their current class. Eg. KG 1 pupils will move to KG 2 and KG 2 to Primary 1 in that order.

Q. Why the need for semester calendar for JHS  learners?

A. The new Common Core Programme (CCP) will run continuously for four (4) years from JHS 1 to SHS 1 beginning the JHS calendar from the current trimester to a semester as being run by the SHS will ensure the seamless progression of students and make up for the lost time.

Q. Will KG and Primary Schools run semester system as well?

A. No! KG and Primary will continue with the current trimester system.

Q. When will the SHS 1 students report to schools?

A. The SHS 1 together with SHS 2 Gold Track students will report on the 10th March 2021.

Q. Are Senior High Schools still going to be Double Track?

A. As promised earlier, the Double Track System was a temporary intervention awaiting facility improvements in our Senior High Schools.

Accordingly, all SHS 3 and SHS 1 will now be together as single track. Only SHS 2 students in existing double track schools will change to run the Double Track System.

Q. Are schools going to allow social gatherings?

A. As the President directed only schools based religious gatherings are allowed in the schools. Even with that, schools are expected to avoid any kind of overcrowding during these gathering most morning assemblies are encouraged to be in the classroom setting so as to reduce overcrowding.

Q. When will this year’s WASSCE and BECE be written?

A. In consultation with the examination body, WAEC, WASSCE has been proposed for September/October 2021 whereas BECE is proposed to be written in November 2021.

Q. What are the preparations for children with special needs?

A. Our children with special need will not be left behind. Children with special need also need to return to school. Support them!!

Q. Will pregnant girls go back to school?

A. Yes! GES has a re-entry policy for pregnant school girls to continue their education from where they left off.

Q. How will schools handle suspected cases?

A. Schools are mapped to health facilities. Learners with suspected cases would be treated by qualified nurses in these facilities. Schools will work closely with Health professionals.

Q. How many hours will the learners spend in Schools?

A. KG and Lower Primary pupils will spend 4 hours in school, 8:00 am to 12:00 noon. Those in the Upper Primary, JHS and SHS, from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm.