Amidst fears and worry over the second wave of COVID-19 spike, schools across Nigeria will today resume academic activities.
This is in line with the federal government’s directives, which said all schools must ensure compliance with COVID-19 protocols.
The development is also causing some fears and worries among stakeholders who believed adequate preparation had yet to be made for take-off of the schools.
Amidst all this, however, the FCT Administration has issued a strong warning to management of both private and public schools in Abuja, the nation’s capital city, to strictly adhere to established safety protocols.
The FCTA issued the warning through its education secretariat at the weekend, following the announcement by the Federal Ministry of Education on maintaining the resumption date of 18th, January 2021.
In a statement Sunday, spokesman of the secretariat, Kabiru Musa said all Schools in FCT were directed to resume accordingly, while emphasising total compliance with COVID-19 protocols and school resumption guidelines and checklist earlier released for the FCT Schools.
Musa explained that the Ag. Secretary and Director, Administration and Finance, Mal. Leramoh Abdulrazaq said: “the Education Management has always placed the safety of the Staff and Students as priority as they return back to their various schools for the new academic term after the festive break and has gone ahead also to ensure necessary modalities are worked out for safe resumption amidst the second wave of Covid-19.”
He recalled that, in the wake of the October resumption after the long periods of lockdown, the FCT Administration made adequate provision for all needed for safe re-opening.
The statement further directed school authorities to leave no stone unturned in ensuring staff and students complied to all laid down rules and regulations, while making use of all items provided already and close every gaps for the commencement of full academic activities in the schools.
He said arrangements had been concluded for regular school monitoring and inspection by the Department of Quality Assurance and Other Monitoring units of the various Boards under the Education Secretariat.
He therefore appealed to stakeholders “not to toy with their health and security but play their various roles in complementing and sustaining all the safety measures, the FCT Administration has already put in place.”
Our fears –Group
Meanwhile, the Network for Democracy and Development (NDD) Sunday raised fears over today’s resumption of tertiary and other educational institutions across the country ‘without adequate safety measures.’
NDD raised the alarm in a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Tajudeen Alabede, and its Director of Public Affairs, Dr. Abdul-Wasi B. Moshooda, and made available to journalists in Ibadan.
The civil society group said: “Nigeria has witnessed a devastating impact of the second wave of COVID-19, including the death of some high-profile citizens in the past few weeks, hence the need for adequate safety measures before the schools be allowed to reopen.
“NDD is therefore, alarmed by the plans by educational institutions across the country to resume academic activities without adequate safety measures. It is discomforting that many Governments have not gone beyond merely issuing statements encouraging schools to observe COVID-19 protocols.
“In this situation, the hapless students, pupils and staff are literally left to their fate as adequate safety measures are not put in place by the Federal and State Governments. NDD considers this inappropriate as the primary duty of any Government is the security and wellbeing of the citizens.
“It is an irony that, while the plan for schools to resume is moving at a high speed, the same Governments are vigorously campaigning against large gatherings. That this is taking place against the background of insecurity across the country makes it all the more indefensible,” the statement added.
They maintained that “what NDD expects is for the Government at all levels to regard COVID-19 as a national emergency which would demand that affected sectors are provided with all the necessary support that they need to cope with the impact of the pandemic.
“In the minimum, Government should consider providing facilities for virtual classes, deploying health and security personnel to schools to handle emergencies, providing hand sanitisers and masks to students and staff, providing testing facilities for compulsory testing of all students and staff and setting up isolation centres in all Local Governments.
“Besides, there should have been a well-coordinated plan by the Federal and State Governments about phased resumption in a way that would prevent overcrowding in the institutions.”
Commending the University of Ilorin and a few other institutions that have properly articulated their phased resumption plans, NDD said considering the fact that “education sector embraces the largest percentage of citizens – from kindergarten to postgraduate classes, it is a sector that is most affected by COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, the consequences of poorly regulated resumption plans amidst the rising cases of COVID-19 may be catastrophic.”
