Ghana Education Service postpone 2020 Academic year

The Ghana Education Service (GES) has postponed the 2020 Academic year for students in the basic and Senior High schools in the country.

The President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo who announced the decision said academic activities in the various levels including nursery, kindergarten, primary, JHS 1, and SHS 1 would resume in January 2021.

Second-year (Form 2) Junior and Senior High School (JHS and SHS) students would, however, return to school from October 5 to December 14, 2020, to complete their academic year.

The President made the announcement in his 16th Covid-19 Address to the Nation on Sunday, August 30.

“The Ghana Education Service, after further consultations, has decided to postpone the remainder of the academic year for all nursery, kindergarten, primary, JHS 1 and SHS 1 students. The next academic year will resume in January 2021” he said.

According to him, necessary measures would be put in place to make up for the lost academic period of 2020 and also to ensure safe re-opening of schools early next year.

The Next Academic Year

“The next academic year will resume in January 2021, with appropriate adjustments made to the curriculum, to ensure that nothing is lost from the previous year.

The relevant dispositions will also be made so that the presence, at the same time, in the school of all streams of students, can occur in safety” Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo said.

Closure of Schools a Necessary Price to Pay

He, acknowledge the challenges the current disruption in the country’s education had brought upon parents and guardians adding that, that was a necessary price parents and the country as a whole had to pay for the safety of children in the wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

“I appreciate fully the inconvenience and the financial burden the continued stay at home of children are posing to parents and guardians. Fellow Ghanaians, these are a necessary price to pay in our efforts to protect the lives of our children, as well as to limit and contain the spread of the virus in our country,” he added.

Closure of Schools

Schooling at the level in the country was halted in March this year by the government in an attempt to curtail the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic which had infected and claimed the lives of millions of people world over.

However, partial re-opening for final year Universities, Senior and Junior High Schools and Form 2 Gold Track SHS students were permitted in June and July to enable them to prepare and complete their academic year amidst stiff opposition and several calls for the cancellation of the academic year.

Some students have since completed their academic year and returned home.

Source: GhanaPlus.com