President Akufo-Addo
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has stated that, despite the adverse impact of the Covid-19 on human life globally, Ghana should still find a way of safeguarding the future of the next generation.
“Safeguarding that future means essentially safeguarding the prospects of the generation of young people who are the objects of education today. This pandemic has come. It has dislocated the lives of the entire globe. There is no single country on the face of the earth that has not been affected,” the President said yesterday when he met Vice-Chancellors of both private and public universities at the Jubilee House.
The President noted that even though the drastic impact of the virus has affected so many things, it does not mean managers of the economy and individuals must throw their hands in despair.
Getting economy back
He mentioned that the two most important questions that ought to be answered are how to protect the economy and how to get the society back on track with safety.
President Akufo-Addo said the Covid-19 has altered the way of life with people barely holding hands or touching hands, among others.
“The touch of human beings today are themselves a potential weapon of death,” the President said, adding that the new phenomena, as a result of the pandemic, will go a long way to change human civilisation.
“You don’t shake hands, you don’t shake with your seniors, with your loved ones, with your children because each one of us is potentially a beacon of death,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo advised that a new way of life must be found to chat a path for human survival and progress.
“For that to happen, education and the educational institutions have to be highly prioritised. So, yes, we have to go forward; we can’t raise our hands and say because of the pandemic we have given up the fight for the progress and development of our nation.
“We can’t say because of the pandemic we are no longer interested in issues of social justice. We have to continue to make every effort to make sure our society, despite the pandemic, is able to function to deliver the results, which are of human progress and solidarity,” he said.
Changes
The President stated that a lot of changes are taking place in the educational sector, as a result of the pandemic, which will become a permanent feature of human life.
He mentioned that people would now be able to stay in their homes and acquire education, something the President asked the Vice-Chancellors to add into their system.
But he was quick to add that aspects such as socialisation cannot be overlooked since individuals need to meet one other and interact.
“All these are things that are learnt in school and not necessarily things that can be convened online. They can only be convened by social intercourse,” President Akufo-Addo said.
