Hot!
We’ll protect students, teaching, non-teaching staff for COVID-19
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says the government has put in place adequate measures to protect students, teaching and non-teaching staff in the various senior high schools from the coronavirus (COVID 19) pandemic.
He said measures have been put in place to ensure that students and teachers adhere strictly to enhanced personal hygiene and social distancing protocols to prevent an outbreak of the COVID-19 in the schools.
Final year SHS students and SHS 2 Gold Track students resumed academic activities yesterday to prepare for their final examination after a three-month break due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
SHS 3 students will be in school for a total of six weeks before sitting for the WASSCE exams over a period of two 2 weeks. SHS 2 Gold Track students, who are returning to complete their first semester like their Green Track colleagues have done, will be in school for six weeks, before going on vacation.
President Akufo-Addo, in an address on the COVID 19 situation in the country last Sunday night entreated all students, teaching and non-teaching staff to wash their hands regularly with soap under running water and refrain from shaking hands, wear face masks and protect themselves and others.
“All 1,167 senior high schools in the country have been fumigated and disinfected. Each student, teaching and non-teaching staff, invigilator and school administrator, numbering some 800,000 will be provided with three pieces of reusable face masks, that is two being provided tomorrow, and the third within a fortnight”.
“A total of 18,000 Veronica buckets, 800,000 pieces of two hundred millilitre sanitisers, 36,000 rolls of tissue paper, 36,000 gallons of liquid soap, and 7,200 thermometer guns have been distributed,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo said a maximum of twenty-five students will be permitted in each class and added that all day students in schools with boarding houses will be resident in the boarding houses, whilst day students in schools without boarding facilities will commute from home, and will be required to adhere to enhanced hygiene protocols.
Eating in dining halls will be in appropriate numbers; and no visitors to the schools will be allowed, he said and noted that mass gatherings or sporting activities will be prohibited in the schools.
“Religious activities, under the new protocols, will be permitted. Social distancing and the wearing of face masks are obligatory in our schools.”
“One dormitory block in each senior high school is to be used as an isolation centre, in the event of a student falling sick. Again, each SHS has been mapped to a health facility, and care will be provided to the sick by nurses assigned to these schools,” he said.
Through the National Food and Buffer Stock Company, he said enough food supplies have been distributed to all schools.
Government is also making available 350 buses and 840 pickup vehicles to senior high schools that did not receive vehicles in 2016, he said.
President Akufo-Addo announced plans by the government to absorb the WASSCE examination fees of the 313,837 SHS 3 students who will sit for the exam at a total cost of GH¢75.4 million.
“These SHS 3 students, also referred to by some as the ‘Akufo-Addo graduates’, are the first group of beneficiaries of government’s Free Senior High School policy to sit the WASSCE exams. 1.2 million children, the highest such enrolment in our nation’s history, because of this policy, are currently in senior high schools,” he said
Source: Ghanaian Times
Hot!
GEXIM deepens relations with US EXIM Bank
A management team of the Ghana Export – Import Bank (GEXIM) led by the Acting Chief Executive, Sylvester Mensah met with the leadership of the Export–Import Bank of the United States (US EXIM) on Wednesday April 23, 2025 in Washington DC, United States of America.
The Acting President and Chairman of US EXIM, Mr. James C. Cruse and Vice President, International Relations, Ms. Isabel Galdiz received the GEXIM delegation, which included Deputy CEO for Banking, Mr. Moses Klu Mensah and Head of International Cooperation, Mr. Jonathan Christopher Koney at the headquarters of US EXIM.
The meeting offered the GEXIM team the opportunity to share the strategic direction of the Bank in line with the resetting agenda of the President of the Republic, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama for the repositioning of the Ghanaian economy into an export-led one by providing the requisite investment to Ghanaian businesses.
Mr. James C. Cruse expressed US EXIM’s eagerness to deepen its existing relations with GEXIM and proposed the signing of a new Cooperative Framework Agreement following the expiration of a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2019 to utilize US EXIM’s medium term loan guarantees to procure machinery by GEXIM for qualified Ghanaian Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).
Mr.Sylvester Mensah thanked the Acting President and Chairman of US EXIM for hosting the GEXIM delegation and reaffirmed the Ghanaian government’s commitment to strengthening trade and investment between Ghana and its global partners for economic transformation of Ghana with GEXIM playing a pivotal role.
The two teams will be meeting on the sidelines of the 2025 US EXIM Annual Conference on 29th and April 30, 2025 to explore possible areas of collaboration and matching Ghanaian businesses to American companies. The meeting ended with an exchange of gifts.
Hot!
Many SOEs have been used as mere instruments for personal wealth accumulation –Pres.Mahama
President John Dramani Mahama has expressed concern over the misuse of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) for personal financial gain by individuals in leadership positions.
Speaking during a meeting with Chief Executives of specified entities under the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA) on Thursday, March 13, the President directly attributed the dire state of SOEs to their leadership, accusing chief executives, management teams, and governing boards of prioritising personal enrichment over organisational efficiency.
He pointed to bloated budgets, unjustified allowances, and unnecessary expenditures as factors draining public funds while SOEs continue to rely on government bailouts.
“Many SOEs have been used as mere instruments for personal wealth accumulation by appointees. The chief executives, management, and boards of these enterprises are responsible for this situation. Some SOEs have become perennial loss-makers, draining public funds with bloated budgets, unjustified allowances, and unnecessary expenditures while relying on government bailouts as if entitled to them. Many of these entities are at their lowest point in the entire history of the Fourth Republic,” he said.
President Mahama further noted that many SOEs have been plagued by inefficiencies, corruption, and mismanagement, leading to consistent financial losses. He cited the 2023 State Ownership Report by the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), which highlighted systemic inefficiencies and wasteful expenditures within these entities.
He therefore reaffirmed his commitment to reforming under-performing SOEs and ensuring they serve national interests.
He warned that loss-making SOEs will no longer be tolerated and will either be merged, privatised, or closed.
“I will assess you based on your performance. If you do not align with the pace of the reset agenda, you may be asked to step aside. If that adds to the horror movie, so be it,” he added.
Source: Myjoyonline.com
