The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has descended into academic institutions to empower students and teachers with knowledge to disarm the spread of COVID-19 within the school environment.

The NCCE Accra Metro Directorate in pursuit of strategy to engage educational institutions with knowledge to fight against the spread of COVID-19, has sensitize students and teachers of Ghana Lebanon Islamic Secondary School in Accra.

Mr Ebenezer Tetteh Wayo, NCCE Accra Metro Director, explained that Ghana can only defeat COVID-19 "if we arm the masses including teachers and students as COVID-19 Civic Peer-Educators to enter into their communities and serve as change agents.

"We can stop the spread of COVID-19 through effective communication and teachers and students must play critical role, if we fail to comprehensively educate our people to understand the need to adhere to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Ghana Health Service preventive protocols, the disease will continue to spread".

He said the NCCE had broaden its scope of public education not only focusing on COVID-19, but also sensitizing the students and teachers on issues relating to Accountability, Rule of law, and Anti-Corruption Programme (ARAP) to promote good environmental governance.

He advised the students and teachers to understand and appreciate the link between good environmental governance practices and the national war to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said the WHO and GHS COVID-19 preventive protocols were based on healthy environmental practices; washing of hands under running water, sneezing and coughing etiquettes, regular use of hand sanitizers and social distancing.

Mr Tetteh-Wayo also called for proper disposal of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), to ensure that it did not become playing tools for kids.

On proper disposal of PPE especially nose masks, he reiterated the fact that there was the need for classification and segregation of household and workplace waste and there should be safe transportation and conveyance of public waste.

He therefore appealed to Metropolitan and District Assembly to provide waste bins at vantage points to maintain good environmental governance practices.

Ms Barbara Mensah, NCCE Senior Civic Education Officer who demonstrated the proper usage and disposal of nose mask, stressed the urgent need to develop and adopt pragmatic tactics to defeat our common enemy COVID-19

She emphasied the need for attitudinal change, "we must stop behaving as in normal times, we must adhere to behavioural directives under the new normal".

Ms Mensh said as civic educators, "we are helping the people to understand President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's measures and directives put in place to combat the COVID-19 pandemic".

She however expressed concern about the lack of appreciation of the protocol on social distancing and compulsory use of the nose mask, which was not being observed.

Mr Emil Dzajwasi, a Teacher at the Ghana Lebanon Islamic Secondary School, commended the NCCE for the effort to empower students with knowledge on CVID-19 and good environmental governance practices.