COVID-19: Students Are Safer In Schools Than Home - Sam Pyne
NPP Ashanti Regional Secretary, Sam Pyne says it is much safer for the final year students to remain in their schools than for the schools to be closed.
Due to the rapid cases of COVID-19, President Nana Akufo-Addo has been asked to shut down the schools and allow the students to return home.
The calls on the President to direct for the closure of the schools come as some Senior High Schools (SHS) in the country have recorded cases of the virus infection.
Over five schools in the Western Region have reportedly had positive COVID-19 cases.
In Accra Girls' SHS in the Greater Accra Region, about 55 students and staff have got infected and the country's student population contracting the disease keeps trickling in as other schools record cases.
This notwithstanding, the students are still in their schools preparing for their examinations.
What many people even find ridiculous is the fact that institutions like BOST, COCOBOD, Finance Ministry and other State agencies and Ministries have shut down operations after their staff tested positive for the virus.
President Nana Akufo-Addo is also currently under self-isolation after a member of his close team contracted the disease.
Critics wonder why the students should remain in schools when the President and his government officials including State institutions think it is safer for them to quarantine or isolate themselves to curb the spread of the disease.
They therefore want the President to use the same yardstick for the school children.
But, according to Sam Pyne, the "school environment is more conducive when they're confined there to make them safer".
He asked if their parents can monitor their movements 24/7 and even if they can, will their wards be constantly confined to the four walls of the home.
He further alluded to claims by some critics of the government, who during the lockdown, purported that the students being home could result in teenage pregnancy.
In view of this, Sam Pyne is convinced the students returning home will not be the solution to the COVID-19 infections but rather their discipline and strict adherence to the health protocols and the mandatory wearing of nose or face masks.
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