We’ve not announced date for reopening of schools – FG

…Lists conditions for reopening of schools, considers sectionalising classes

…Urges states, private schools owners to plan ahead on how to ensure safety for students

The Federal Government has said that it has not announced any date for the reopening of schools across the country.

Speaking at the resumed Daily briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in Abuja on Wednesday, Minister of State for Education, Mr. Emeka Nwajiuba, who faulted reports that schools would reopen June 8, said that until the government is sure that the children can go to school and return safely without taking COVID-19 home, it was not ready to take the risk of opening schools.

“Until we are sure that our children can go to school and return safely without taking COVID-19 home, we are not ready to take the risk of opening schools”, he said.

The minister also revealed that the Federal Government will rely on the opinion of experts and the guidance of the World Health Organisation before announcing any school resumption dates.

Nwajiuba said government is working on a model to ensure that all the children do not return to their schools at the same time to ensure physical and social distancing as well as proper sanitation and hygiene at every school.

The plan, according to the minister, entails adopting a two-shift system and allowing those who will write exams to return earlier than others.

Nwajiuba, however, explained that while it is still currently not safe to reopen schools, plans are being made to see how the system can keep running despite the pandemic.

He said a publication would be released shortly as to what the re-opening of schools should look like, post-COVID.

“We are not talking about coping with COVID – there’s a difference. We’ve come to understand that COVID may not necessarily go away so we expect that we will adapt such that in the presence of COVID, we can still do what we need to do,” the minister said.

“For a country that has over 115,000 primary schools, you will understand that 35,000 of these who are private must agree to set up the same standard in order to allow children to go in.

“If you go to our Nigerian Universities, many of the things we need for social distancing may not be available so you may need to rethink it.

“For instance, which courses should be in school at which periods, we can have semesters within semesters for different department and faculties?

“It is the same we are planning for secondary school reopening. We want to bring in our JSS and SSS children first, they conclude their exams and vacate the place, then others can return.

“We will do the same thing with primary schools, where we will now limit the number of children per class.

“What this may mean is that we may have classes in the mornings and classes in the afternoons so whichever is convenient for you. I am not sure if there will be classes at night, but we can do with mornings and afternoons at the moment”.

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Speaking further, Nwajiuba explained that the government also intends for schools to utilize all their infrastructure.

“Some people will be in the field learning, some would be in classes. Some will be at different facilities all within the school,” he said.

He urged state governments and owners of private schools to plan ahead on how to ensure maximum safety for students when the resumption plan is unveiled.

The chairman of the PTF, Boss Mustapha, while speaking at the briefing on Wednesday, said the nation was faced with the challenge of millions of out-of-school children before the COVID-19 pandemic.

This, he said, has been compounded by the compelling need for closure of schools as part of the measures to limit the spread of the virus.

“Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the nation was faced with the challenge of out-of-school children. This has now been compounded by the compelling need for closure of schools as part of the measures to limit the spread of the virus.

“The PTF has been deliberating on this situation and wish to inform Nigerians that the Federal Ministry of Education will roll out measures to be put in place for safe re-opening of our schools,” he said.

The Daily Times recalls that Federal Government had on March 19 ordered the closure of all schools to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus.