Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh
The Minister of Education, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, aka Napo, on Wednesday explained efforts by his ministry to complement the fight against the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic at a news conference in Accra.
There has been an intense public campaign aimed at encouraging people to stay at home in order to stem the tide and the minister, in his address, which was targeted particularly at students, appealed passionately for them to remain where they are.
The minister, a medical doctor by profession, said the “stay at home” solution is workable. According to him, the virus, which has been claiming scores of human lives across the world, cannot travel on its own.
He, therefore, stated that being disciplined and staying at home would surely do the trick by killing the dangerous COVID-19 virus within a few weeks.
Napo, who is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Manhyia South, also urged the people to adhere to the directives from government.
According to him, the health and safety tips given by the Ghana Health Services (GHS), such as avoiding handshaking and keeping social distance are the best. Also, he entreated the populace to keep their environment clean, wash their hands frequently and always maintain social distancing.
Napo said there was no need for panic, stressing the need for Ghanaians to collaborate and defeat the COVID-19 virus, adding the government cannot do it alone if the people are not cooperative.
Education Plan
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education has rolled out a strategic plan so that students, who are currently on break, would not suffer academically.
For the pre-tertiary sector, the ministry is partnering the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) for radio and TV content delivery of educational material in accordance with the current curriculum.
Also, educational technology partners such as CENDLOSS, PLAN International and others have been engaged to deliver material through online portals such as the iCAMPUS system.
For the tertiary sector, the ministry, headed by Napo, is collaborating with the Open University UK to deploy distance learning programmes for all universities.
Besides, the ministry is working towards up-scaling the functional learning management systems that all the traditional universities possess.
By I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr.