The Ghana Education Service (GES) has declared Wednesday, December 7 an off-day for basic schools across the country.
This is to afford students and teachers who will be voting and playing special roles on Election Day the opportunity to do so without fear of missing out on classroom activities. The GES had earlier instructed all schools and educational workers to work on the Election Day.
A statement by the Service last week said, “It is to be noted that Wednesday, 7th December, 2016 is not a holiday, therefore all teachers, students and educational workers are supposed to be at post after voting.”
But the statement generated a lot of negative criticism with many arguing that the measure was inappropriate since some teachers would play special roles as election officials on Election Day.
But the Public Relations Officer of GES, Rev. Jonathan Bettey in an interview with Citi News said, the Service had to reconsider the decision after concerns were raised by various stakeholders including the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT).
“It has become very necessary for the management of the Ghana Education Service to declare Wednesday, 7th December, which is the Election Day, a day off for all teachers and students in our schools across the country to enable them exercise their franchise and also make the environment serene for the exercise to be carried out.”
He said the day off will not affect the academic calendar of schools, adding that, students must report to school on Thursday, November, 2016.
He further urged all teachers and students involved in the exercise to be disciplined and conduct themselves in a manner that does not question the quality of their education.
“All teachers and pupils to be disciplined. When they go out there, they should go out to vote gently and go back home.”
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