The Ghana National Council of Private Schools (GNACOPS) is urging heads of all private schools to go about regular academic activities while taking health precautions in the face of the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Ghana.
The council said the development called for strengthened measures within schools, to ensure that it protected pupils and staff from any possible case of coronavirus infection.
“Children are most susceptible to infections and communicable diseases and rightly so. It has been confirmed from statistics of countries that have been, to a greater extent affected with coronavirus that a good number of children in those countries have been infected.
“It is, therefore, very imperative that we put in place measures to protect our pupils/children from any possible cases of infections,” GNACOPS said in their statement.
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Among other things, the council said the schools must avoid cases of overcrowding, especially in classrooms, dining halls and buses since such places easily promote the transfer of the disease from one person to the other.
“We must educate learners/children on the Coronavirus pandemic in ways that will not spark fear and panic, but rather to equip them with the requisite knowledge they need about the disease and how to protect themselves… We must provide enough Hand Washing bowls with soap and running water in our schools for the learners/children to have access for usage,” the statement added.
Besides ensuring that pupils had sanitisers in their bags and used it often, GNACOPS urged parents to closely observe their children and quickly seek help if they suspect any child of showing symptoms of the disease.
