Stakeholders applaud Zoomlion’s excellent disinfection of Northern and Savannah Regions’ schools

Heads of basic schools, both public and private, in the Northern Region of Ghana have been praised for their cooperation in the ongoing disinfection exercise in their schools by Zoomlion Ghana Limited (ZGL).

The General Manager, ZGL, Northern Region, Peter Dawuni, made the commendation while addressing journalists during the disinfection of Gurugu R/C School in Tamale in the Northern Region on Tuesday.

“I am happy with how the schools’ authorities are cooperating with us on the whole disinfection exercise in the Northern Region,” he gleefully expressed.

He revealed that his outfit was disinfecting about 5,000 basic schools in the Northern Region, assuring that by Thursday, June 25, 2020, they will be done with all the schools.

The exercise, which started last week, formed part of the President’s directives for all basic schools in the country to be disinfected against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

And more so to ensure that basic schools’ facilities and open spaces were safe from the coronavirus, and especially as final-year junior high school (JHS) pupils were expected to be back in school on Monday, June 29.

According to Mr Dawuni, his company was using chlorine solution to disinfect the schools to fight bacteria and viruses.

“And though this disinfectant is potent in the fight against viruses and bacteria, disinfection must be continuous and not a one-off activity,” he advised.

He said they only challenge they had encountered was the distance to some of the schools.

“In some cases, we have had to use canoes to cross rivers to places in the Northern Region to disinfect schools. And there have also been instances where we have been compelled to park our cars to use motorbikes,” he indicated.

The first port of call for the Zoomlion disinfection crew was Gurugu Riyadh Suadiheen M/A Primary in the Sanarigu Municipal, Tamale.

And speaking to journalists, the Headmaster of the school, Salifu Kofi, said he was highly impressed with the disinfection exercise.

“We believe disinfecting our schools will to a large extent protect our environs from the Covid-19 disease,” he averred.

However, he said one area of concern was how they would enforce the social distancing protocol. That, he intimated, would be difficult to implement due to the lack of adequate chairs and tables in the school. 

He, therefore, used the chance to appeal to the central government to support them with personal protective equipment (PPE). He said although his pupils were few, there was a challenge on how parents would join forces with the teaching staff members to educate the children on the government’s directives.

The next was a cluster of schools in Gurugu. These included St. Joan Of Arc JHS, Gurugu R/C among others.

For his part, the Headmaster of Gurugu R/C, Francis Faaseg, was full of praise for Zoomlion.

He, however, charged the company to continue to support government to fight the pandemic.

According to him, they were yet to receive the Covid-19 preventive items including nose masks, liquid soaps, Veronica buckets and alcohol-based hand sanitisers.

On ensuring that the final-year pupils practice social distancing, Mr Fasseg disclosed that the school would not have any problem, adding that the JHS 3 pupils were 99 and that there were enough classrooms to accommodate them.

However, he used the opportunity to make a passionate appeal to non-governmental organisations (NGOs), corporate bodies and individuals to support the school with chairs.

  In like manner, the disinfecting of basic schools in the Savannah Region would help assuage fears in both the pupils and the teachers in the region as a result of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

The Deputy Director, Supervision of Education, West-Gonja District in the Savannah Region, Katribi Dramani, made the observation during the disinfection of Yipala Junior High School (JHS) in the West-Gonja District.

With the disinfection exercise in the Savannah Region underway, both the final-year JHS pupils and teachers would be motivated and have confidence to report to school on June 29, to prepare for this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE), he said.   

In this regard, he commended Zoomlion Ghana Limited for partnering the central government to have all basic schools in the country disinfected.

According to Mr Dramani, many of the teachers and pupils became even more excited when they got wind of the news that Zoomlion was coming to disinfect basic schools in the region.

Zoomlion, he indicated, started the exercise on June 18, adding that they have been able to disinfect about 74 basic schools out of 112 in the district.

He also said that the ministry of education was putting in place measures to help protect the final-year JHS pupils against the Covid-19 disease.

Consequently, he cautioned the final-year pupils to adhere strictly to the President’s directives on the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the view of Mr Dramani, the e-learning approach adopted by many of the schools in the region did not have much impact.

He attributed this to the fact that many of the pupils and their parents did not have the necessary tools to support e-learning.

He, thus, advised the pupils to fully cooperate with their teachers throughout the period they will be studying to write their final year examinations.

Meanwhile, heads of basic schools in the region were happy at the disinfection exercise in their schools.

According to them, the exercise was critical because it would not only keep their schools’ spaces and facilities safe, but equally protect their final-year JHS pupils to prepare and write their exit examinations, safe from the virus.

The Headmaster of Larabanga JHS B, Mr Saaka Dauda Iaward, could not hide his joy, and thus praised the government and Zoomlion for the exercise.

“I am very excited to see the government engage Zoomlion to disinfect my school,” he expressed.

He used the opportunity to appeal to philanthropists and corporate institutions in the region to support his school with Veronica buckets, nose masks and alcohol-based hand sanitisers.