Threat of Ebola disease; SHS heads show concern
The Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) has expressed concern about the outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease in West Africa due to its effect on the safety of students.
Consequently, the issue of Ebola would be discussed in detail at the annual conference of the school heads which would take place on September 5 and 6, 2014.
The information that would be made available to CHASS by health experts would inform the school heads on how to deal with the Ebola threat when schools reopen.
Speaking in an interview, the National President of CHASS, Mr Samuel Ofori-Adjei, said it was important not to take chances and as heads of schools who manage thousands of students, it was important for them to be abreast of all issues relating to the disease so that they would know exactly what to do.
Fortunately, Mr Ofori-Adjei said, students were currently at home on vacation so it gives the school heads some time to plan. He hoped that Ebola would not spread to Ghana.
Mr Ofori-Adjei, who is also the headmaster of Accra Academy said, “ the situation of the Ebola disease is an eye-opener and schools do not have to wait for scarier moments before they take action and collaborate with the School Health Education Programme (SHEP) to deal with it and any of such epidemics”.
Asked if students would be screened when they returned to school, Mr Ofori-Adjei said most schools would reopen on September 15 so if it became necessary to do so, they (authorities) would liaise with health experts and do that.
Developing guidelines for students
Meanwhile, the Director of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Advocacy and Training in Pharmacovigilance, Professor Alex Dodoo, has said it is important for the Ghana Education Service (GES), in conjunction with the Ghana Health Service (GHS), to develop guidelines on the Ebola virus disease for students, teachers and non-teaching staff in all educational institutions in the country.
That, he said, was to educate them on the disease to prevent panic. He also pointed out that “it is safer when everyone is educated on the disease, especially what to do in case of any suspected or actual case in any educational institution; whether it is a boarding or day school.”
Additionally, he said the guidelines should provide a uniform approach on the dos and don’ts for educational institutions to avoid a situation where every school did what it felt was the best way to prevent the disease.
The absence of clear, uniform guidelines could easily lead to conflicting messages being sent out by individual institutions which could result in chaos.
He also requested that the GES and GHS should give regular updates on the disease and its spread to all educational institutions.
As a result of the communal living and the overcrowding situation in some boarding schools, Prof. Dodoo said students should desist from using or sharing items with people and not sleep on other people’s beds, especially those with fever, since if someone is infected with Ebola his or her beddings would also be infective.
When the Junior Graphic contacted the acting Director-General of the GES, Mr Charles Aheto-Tsegah, he said the service was developing an emergency preparedness plan to be implemented from September 1, 2014 ahead of the re-opening of schools on September 15.
The plan, he said, would be carried out in all schools across the country.
He said it is being developed by a multi-sectoral group including the Ministry of Health and the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO).
