The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has put in place effective meausres to assess previous knowledge of students before they resume fully the 2021 academic year.
According to the association, it is obvious some, if not most students have forgotten what they learnt prior to the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting the academic calender in March 2020.
The General Secretary of the association, Thomas Musah has indicated that teachers will assess the previous knowledge of students in the first three weeks of the resumption of schools before attempting to build up on where they ended in March.
Speaking in an interview with Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show aired on e.TV Ghana and Happy 98.9 FM, Thomas Musah said, “Some kids have forgotten what they were taught and as this is a national issue, teachers will focus on a recovery programme before teaching any new things for this academic year.
We have what we refer to as the Previous Knowledge (PK). Before teachers build up on the past academic year, some kind of revision needs to be done for the next 2 to 3 weeks before the new academic year begins. Teachers need to know what the kids remember and the assessment of the previous knowledge will show them where to continue from”, he added.
The GNAT General Secretary called on the government and Ministry for Education to provide teachers with all the needed teaching materials for the academic year.
He said, “There should be no excuses whatsoever and teachers should be provided with all materials to teach and help them develop the kids”.
President Akufo-Addo on March 15, announced the closure of all schools in the country from March 16, along with a ban on public gatherings when Ghana confirmed her first two positive COVID-19 cases.
The President however announced yesterday that basic schools in Ghana will reopen on Friday, January 15, 2021 while their seniors in SHS 2 and SHS 3 will return to school from January 18, 2021 with tertiary institutions reopening from January 9, 2021.
He also stated that first-year Senior High School students will start classes from March 10, 2021,
By: Joel Sanco
