Nigerian government gives condition for reopening schools

Olabisi Deji-Folutile

The Federal Government has given condition for reopening schools nationwide even as it assures parents and guardians of schoolchildren and others in higher institutions that schools will reopen soon.

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Speaking in Abuja on Thursday during the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 news conference in Abuja, the Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajuiba, said that all the schools in the country would reopen once the safety of students can be guaranteed.

The Federal Government had shut all educational institutions nationwide as part of measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 pandemic. Responding to questions from the media on when schools would reopen, he said government was being careful not to endanger the lives of students or further spread COVID-19 in the society.

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According to him, the ministry is working with other relevant stakeholders and agencies of government to put necessary measures in place that will guarantee the safety of children before reopening schools.

He said: “We all are seriously interested in reopening and I believe we will reopen soon.

The issue around reopening has to do with national governance. The idea of shutting down the schools has nothing to do with the schools per se.

“You heard the chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, the SGF, keep saying it is a national response. It is a single national response and everything we do flows from that.

“When they determine, I’m sure you have seen all the experts here, that there is the measure of safety to which we can expose our children, we will gladly do that. We are watching and we are working with all bodies within and outside the country.

“The five countries of West African Examination Council (WAEC) are meeting and I just came out of a meeting with African Union (AU) Ministers of Education, everybody is concerned as you are. We hope to reopen very soon.”