In September 2019, when the academic year began, it took off smoothly albeit challenges with the placement of first year students under the Computerised School Selections and Placement System (CSSPS).

All went well in the country until March 11, 2020, when Ghana recorded the first case of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic; the academic year was never to be, as government on March 15, 2020 ordered the closure of all educational institutions in the country in line with measure to contain the pandemic.

Initially, the closure did not include final year students of the senior and junior high schools but following appeals by civil society organisations, teacher unions and parents over the safety of the students and staff of the schools, the management of the country’s education finally ordered the final year students to also go home.

The closure marked a new chapter in the history of the educational sector in the country, where management of education had to adopt new ways to ensure that the schoolchildren were still in learning mode. Since then, it has been 10 months when the academic calendar was interrupted and thrown out of gear, while students were sent home.

Upon the directive by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the Ministry of Education was tasked to roll out online programmes and distance learning in collaboration with the Ministry of Communications for the purposes of learning by students from upper primary up to the university level.

Consequently, a team was constituted comprising the Ministry of Education, the National Council for Tertiary Education, the University of Ghana the, University of Education, Winneba, the Ghana Education Service, the Centre for National Distance Learning and Open Schooling, the Ghana Library Authority  and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment to come up with the solutions in the short, medium and long terms.

The team was also tasked to bring out solutions, as well as conceptualise effective and feasible solutions for the short, medium and long terms. They were to explore and ensure its appropriate content and resources for both pre-tertiary and tertiary institution and that explained the need to be guided and guard what was broadcast to Ghanaian students.