In an interview on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem, the Ministry’s spokesperson, Kwasi Kwarteng, explained that academic activities will officially begin on November 7, not October 30 as previously reported.

Addressing concerns about the readiness of both students and parents, Mr. Kwarteng noted that prospective students have a one-week grace period to ensure a smooth transition.

He emphasized that the introduction of the harmonized prospectus has made preparations less stressful for parents and their wards, as they no longer need to travel to and from the schools to purchase essential items.

“We have never said it anywhere that the students should report to school on October 30. The registration and orientation begin on October 30 and it is different from saying that students are to report to school.

“The real-time for academic activities to begin is on November 7 and I think that is where parents and students need clarification because people are complaining that the time is very short. We are not necessarily binding all students to go for the registration on October 30 because you can even do it online,” he explained.

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According to the Public Relations Officer of the GES, Cassandra Twum Ampofo, her outfit had taken note of the concerns of Pre-Tertiary Teacher Unions regarding the limited time parents had for preparations.

The concerns follow the release of the Computerized Schools Selection Process on November 28, with SHS students expected to start classes on December 4.

Reacting to the concern on JoyNews, she explained that her outfit had long published the academic calendar for second-cycle institutions. Hence, they assumed parents were prepared. Nevertheless, they would take a second look at what can be done to address the situation.

“Before the release of placement, we had already published the academic calendar so the first December for first years was already cast and so as a parent, if you knew that your child would be going to the boarding house at least you are working within that time frame. We were only waiting for the school placement to be out but in terms of preparation, we knew that they had started.

“But again once they have given us this feedback, management will look at it and whatever comes out of it will be communicated to the public,” she said.

Also, the Executive Director at the Institute of Education Studies, Dr. Peter Anti-Partey, urges the GES to postpone the reopening to early next year for parents to adequately prepare.

“Adjust it in such a way that everybody will be a little bit okay. I don’t know how they are going to do this because you cannot move it to the following week. If you move it to the following week, it means the students are about to spend about one week on campus. It does not help because some of them will be traveling so you go to school for one week and you come back home for Christmas. It does not help.

“So, I think that maybe the best option will be either to maintain this or move the reopening of the first years to early next year so that everybody would be prepared for that,” he said.

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