Final year Senior High School (SHS) students writing this year’s WASSCE in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis of the Western Region say they remain optimistic despite the Covid-19 scare in some schools.
Meanwhile, those who tested positive for Covid-19 have all returned to school for the exams.
A total of 24,332 final year students are writing this year’s examinations in the Western and Western North regions.
In the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis, some 6,192 students are writing the exams. They are made up of 3,495 girls and 2,697 boys.
The Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Director of Education, Elizabeth Akuoko, told 3news.com that adequate measures have been instituted to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 during the exams period.
All the final year students have been provided with two bottles of hand sanitizers and three pieces of nose masks.
The schools will also use all available classrooms, assembly halls and, in instances where they are overwhelmed by the numbers, dining halls.
Some of the schools have erected canopies in addition to ensure the physical distance rule.
At the last count, 56 final year SHS students had tested positive for Covid-19 in the Western Region.
Mrs. Akuoko reveals that all of them, including those who were contact-traced and quarantined, have returned to school.
Some of the schools, 3news.com learns, have prepared places to host students who might fall sick during the examination period.
The Guidance and Counselling Units in schools that recorded positive Covid-19 cases have also been counseling the students.
Some final year students 3news.com managed to talk to indicated that they were initially afraid when some of their friends tested positive for the virus.
However, they have been counseled and are now calm and ready to write the exams.
At the time of filing this report, there was no case of examination malpractice or any Covid-19-related issue on the first day of the exams, which was a practical session for final-year Visual Arts students.
By Eric Yaw Adjei|3news.com|Ghana