<<Print>>

Atik Mohammed has described as hyperbolic comments made by some 4 Teacher Unions asking for the closure of schools in order to stop the spread of COVID-19 disease.

The four unions namely, the Teachers and Educational Workers' Union, National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers Ghana (CCT-GH) in a joint statement said: "In the light of the above. We the Pre-tertiary Teacher Unions-GNAT NAGRAT TEWU, CCT-GH have no option than to ask that the schools be closed down. For how long can we stand and look, while our children are consigned to imminent death. We cannot stand any unwarranted catastrophe. Our children are our future, and we must protect them".

Another portion of their statement read: "To our utter shock and dismay, the conditionalities which were to ensure the safe and invigorating atmosphere in which our students could study soundly did not materialize. All the protocols and provisions were either limited or just there. And COVID-19 entered the campuses; COVID-19 raided the campuses, and there was nobody to rescue them; pathetic, unfortunate and saddening!

However, Atik thinks the statement sounded partisan.

"I've heard the concerns of the Teacher Unions; I have a concern with their release. At some point they spiced their release with words that seemed partisan; politically coloured words . . . some of these things are not helpful. We can express our concerns without embellishing it with words that are very suggestive," he said on Peace FM’s morning show 'Kokrokoo'.