NCCE STEPS UP COVID-19 CAMPAIGN

The National Commission for Civic Education, (NCCE) has once again stepped-up efforts to sensitise the public to practice COVID-19 safety protocols as cases continue to rise in the country. This phase of the Commission’s COVID-19 public education is insisting that citizens of Ghana wear facemasks to protect themselves and others from COVID-19. Besides the nationwide sensitisation by the Commission, the staff at the Commission’s Head Office in Accra also took to some principal streets to engage the public on the need to continue observing the COVID-19 safety protocols.

With the use of a Cinema Van donated to the Commission by the European Union under the ARAP Project, Civic Educators moved to Nima, Mallam Market, Lapaz, 37 Lorry Station, Makola, Tema Station, and Accra High Street to generally encouraged the public to properly wear their facemasks and observe the safety measures to prevent the spread of the disease. The Van with the state-of-the-art equipment played jingles in the various Ghanaian languages, as well as providing speakers through which educators spoke to the public on the need to observe the protocol.

At Mallam Market, the NCCE staff collaborated with a cast from the Theatre for Social Change group in partnership with the Ghana Health Service (G.H.S.) and UNICEF, to spread the message for people to observe the safety protocols through drama.

After staging a 25-minute drama on the need to be responsive in observing the drama, David Tagoe, Project Coordinator with the Theatre for Social Change commended the collaboration with the NCCE and urged the team to continue with the good work to stem the tide of the spread.

The Deputy Director of Communications and Corporate Affairs at the NCCE, Mrs. Rita Tetteh said generally the public was aware of the Safety Protocols but one out of three people engaged were just reluctant to wear their facemask. Mrs. Tetteh said some wore the facemask under their chin or kept them in their pockets. She added that an adult who was approached by Civic Educators to wear a facemask questioned the Civic Education team saying, ‘Why are you asking me to wear nose mask. If I die is it your concern’. She urged the public to observe the COVID-19 safety protocols to control the spread of the disease indicating that the NCCE will continue to engage the public to strictly adhere to the COVID-19 safety protocols.