The Ministry of Education has come out to debunk claims that public Senior High Schools (SHS) in the country have not received the necessary Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) which forms part of safety measures for the reopening of schools for final year students.
According to the ministry, all public institutions in the country have received the necessary PPEs as stated by President Nana Akufo-Addo in his address to the nation.
Speaking to Afrifa-Mensah, host of the Epa Hoa Daben political talk show on Happy 98.9 FM, the spokesperson for the ministry, Kwasi Obeng Fosu said, “We have given all public schools in the country the mandated PPEs and have even supported some private schools in the country with the excess we had. So how can they [The National Union of Parents Teachers Association] say we have not given students any PPEs.”
He noted that schools across the country received their PPEs three (3) weeks ago and that with the procedure and process used, no school would have been missed. “We deliver the PPEs on a sector by sector basis so how can some schools in these same sectors receive their PPEs and others don’t?” he queried.
Kwesi Fosu repeated, “We have given the public SHSs their PPEs which even some private schools benefitted from. These private schools have come out to praise the government.”
The spokesperson for the ministry who could not believe the statement issued by the National Union of Parents Teachers Association, charged them to provide the ministry with the names of schools who had not received the PPEs as promised by the president.
“It is worrying for the association to claim some schools have not received their PPEs. If they can release the names of these schools, it will be very helpful,” he stated.
Appealing to the National Union of Parents Teachers Association to help the ministry execute its mandate, he asked them to work with the ministry in solving problems and challenges they face and not just identifying and criticizing them.
A statement issued to the media by the National Union of Parents Teachers Association dated 13th July 2020 was headlined, “Appeal to the government to send students currently in schools home (JHS 3, SHS 3 and SHS 2 Gold Track.”
Portions of the release indicated that upon close monitoring of the COVID-19 situation in schools since their reopening in, June not all schools have received the Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) as promised by the government and the Schools which did receive the supplies did not get them in full.