GES gives reason for Tuesday public & private schools holiday

After announcing Tuesday, March 7, 2023, as a holiday for government and private schools, the Ghana Education Service (GES) says the one-day academic break is to allow students to rest after the Independence Day celebration.

In a statement copied to AcademicWeek, the management of GES under the auspices of the Ministry of Education said “this is to enable students to have some rest after preparing vigorously for the Independence Day Anniversary parade.”

“Schools resume fully on Wednesday, March 8, 2023. All parents and guardians are therefore to take note. Any inconvenience is deeply regretted,” the statement signed by a spokeswoman for GES, Cassandra Twum Ampofo said.

But, some private schools in the country have registered their displeasure over the Ghana Education Service (GES) decision to declare Tuesday, March 7, 2023, as a national holiday amid the Independence celebration.

Citing discrimination against private school students in the Independence Day marching, a private school proprietor who spoke to AcademicWeek on condition of anonymity said the GES directive for all private schools to be closed on Tuesday is a step in the wrong direction.

“Private school students were excluded from this national anniversary so why should we be forced to close our schools because of a holiday for public school students who are tired after 6th March,” the private school owner stressed.

The Volta Region was selected to host this year’s National Independence Day celebration slated for March 6, 2023, at the 5,000-capacity Ho Youth Resource Centre (located at Adaklu Tsrefe).

Independence Day is a national holiday celebrated yearly. This day is an official state holiday for the citizens of Ghana both within and in the diaspora to honour and celebrate the Heroes of Ghana who led the country to attain its independence.

Celebrated on March 6 every year in the country, National Independence Day is also a remembrance of the day that marks the declaration of Ghanaian independence from British colonial rule.

It’s observed on March 6 annually because the first Prime Minister of Ghana, Dr Kwame Nkrumah who became the Head of State from 1957 to 1960 declared on March 6, 1957, that the people of Ghana were free from colonial rule.

“The African People are capable of managing their own affairs and Ghana our beloved country is free forever,” the first president of the Republic of Ghana declared at a gathering on March 6, 1957.”

Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s freedom declaration made Ghana formally known as the Gold Coast the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to achieve its independence from European colonial rule.