School
reopening: FG asks states to scrutinise safety measures
By Uji
Abdullahi Iliyasu
Abuja
Minister
of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, has asked the state governments
and other stateholders to scrutinise the template devised by the federal
government to reopen schools across the country.
He disclosed
this when he was speaking on the occasion of
the
zonal stakeholders meeting holding simultaneously in the six geographical
zones in Abuja Monday.
“It
gives me great pleasure and honour to be at this very critical Stakeholders’
Dialogue on Safe School Readiness taking place simultaneously in the six
geographical zones across the country. You may recall that at the
outbreak of the COVID-19 in Nigeria, schools and all learning facilities were
closed in order to safeguard the health and well-being of our children.
“The
closure of schools at all levels invariably impacted the educational sector
like every other sector. We would recall that the decision to close
schools was part of government’s strategy to curtail the spread of the virus as
the school environments were considered to be veritable grounds to spread the
virus. However, in the course of time and consequent upon the trend of
the spread of the virus, the need to ease the lockdown, the Presidential Task
Force (PTF) taking directives from the President based on informed opinion,
allowed the partial opening of schools, particularly to allow students in their
terminal classes to resume and write their examinations.
“This
did not come without very serious challenges which we are all aware of,
nationwide. The closure and the ease down period, particularly as regards the
closure of schools, have lasted for about seven months. Generally, through the
concerted efforts of governments at all levels, there is a cautious belief and
understanding that the pandemic curve has started flattening. This news
provides the impetus for a positive hope that things are getting better.
Regrettably, learners have lost a lot of grounds as far as education is
concerned.
“It is
in view of the above, that the Ministry considers it expedient to hold this
Stakeholders’ meeting at this time to plan and address the eventual safe re-opening
of schools and learning facilities, nationwide, Nwajiuba said.
The
Federal Ministry of Education has developed the Safe School Readiness Template
for an integrated approach to safe school re-opening which comes with many
lessons. The Template requires the full engagement of all stakeholders which is
considered a sine qua non for successful implementation.
“Ladies
and gentlemen, we all know that great accomplishments are made based on
synergy. It is on this premise that we are all here to deliberate and
adopt the Template for the Safe Re-opening of schools and learning facilities.
The Template has some key roles and shared responsibilities to be played by the
Stakeholders at National, State, LGA and the School levels. It is imperative to
ask the question “What are you doing in your State that is different from what
is in the Template?” I hereby, most kindly, urge you to critique the
Template assiduously for the benefit of the Nigerian school child.”