'Use COVID-19 break to learn, build spiritual lives'

The President of the Foundation for Generational Thinkers (FOGET), an NGO, Mr Prosper Afetsi, has called on students at home to use the period they are at home as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic to also build their spiritual life in order to become complete human beings.

He said as physical as human beings were, there was also their spiritual aspect, hence the need to build that and also get closer to their maker in order to have a fulfilled life.

"I believe because of academic pressure a lot of young people don't have the opportunity to develop themselves spiritually now that academic session is on hold I believe it is an opportunity for students to develop spiritual life.

"They can pray more, fast a little bit and read the Bible regularly in these times. I believe it will also make them complete and focused as human beings so that spiritually they can also be strong because the Bible says we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities, powers and spiritual wickedness in high places," Mr Afetsi told the Daily Graphic.

Hope
He expressed the hope that by the time the pandemic was over and returned to full session, they would be better people, more focused, resilient, intelligent and sharper.

The FOGET President said although things were not going the way as they expected as a result of COVID-19, students, right from the basic to the university level, should not give up but be encouraged and have hope and faith that things would get better sooner.

Future
That, according to him, was in spite of the fact that they did not know what the future held for them as the pandemic kept wrecking havoc across the globe with more people dying.

"It is really true that things are not going according to plan because of the situation we are in. For instance, Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) candidates should finalise their preparations while the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) candidates should have been writing their final paper by now but this is not the case," he said.

Mr Afetsi said as young people, they should be able to do what they could do and leave the rest to the authorities and trust that God would be with those in the frontline (health workers) to deliver excellent services.

Keep learning
He advised students to keep their future aspirations high and keep learning through the virtual learning initiative on television and on the Internet introduced by the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service, rather than sit at home idle since that would not help them, saying that "don't use the closure of schools to idle about to avoid running into troubles".

For those in locked down areas, he said they should stay at home while those in the other regions that were not part of the lockdown should desist from gallivanting since the pandemic was no respecter of persons.

He said they should take advantage of the period at home and make the most out of it, adding that they should adhere to all the protocols to avoid contracting the disease by washing hands with soap under running water regularly, use hand sanitisers and observe social distancing.

Slow learners, especially final- year students, he said, could use the opportunities to catch up with the fast learners by revising their notes, read wider, solve more questions, do practical work, among other things.