Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Accra (Agenzia Fides) - An appeal to suspend the students' final exams was launched by His Exc. Mgr. John Bonaventure Kwofie, Archbishop of Accra, at the head of the educational sector of the local Bishops' Conference. Three weeks after final-year students of junior and senior high schools in Ghana returned to school to prepare for exit exams, there are reports of Covid-19 infections in some in western Ghana. Some Catholic schools in Ghana had recorded one or more confirmed cases of COVID-19, and parents expressed fears despite the assurance that safety measures were in place. "We are caught between two waters", said Mgr. Kwofie, noting that students to not want to be in school with the coronavirus, but they also need to prepare for exit exams. "I think this is an occasion for our leaders to do something more radical, more foundationaI".
"The decision must be foundational and radical because the Covid is not just in Ghana", he added, underlining that "the suspension of the 2020 West African Secondary School Certificate Examination and the Basic Education Certificate Examination will prevent the further spread of the virus, particularly among students".
In a July 13 statement, the National Council of Parent-Teacher Associations asked Ghana to send all school students waiting to take their final examinations home. "In the current circumstances, the children are psychologically unstable and would, therefore, not be of sound mind to successfully carry out exams", says the note. "We, therefore, suggest that these examinations be postponed till the situation is brought under control".
Nigeria has delayed the re-opening of schools for exams, but the Ghana Education Service has stated that exams will be held. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 16/7/2020)
