Opeyemi Adelere
The Lagos State Ministry of Education has said that schools; both private and public, will remain shut until lockdown is declared over.
The State Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Folasade Adefisayo, disclosed this in a statement released on Thursday. She said all private and public schools will remain closed to protect pupils from the scourge of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to her, the state government, rather than opening schools and endangering lives of pupils, would intensify efforts in the ongoing free teachings on various media, especially radio and television.
The commissioner for Education warned proprietors planning to commence academic session for third-term amid the Coronavirus outbreak to abandon the plan.
She said, “The attention of the Lagos State Ministry of Education has been drawn to the plans by some private schools in the state to resume academic activities for the third term of the 2019/20 session by online teaching. This is with effect from Monday, April 27, 2020.
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“The Ministry wishes to state categorically that all schools in Lagos State remain closed and have not yet been opened for the third term. The state continues to offer free teachings on various media, especially radio and television.
“Plans are also underway to ensure that our children in public schools are able to complete their term whenever the lockdown is lifted.”
Adefisayo urged private school owners to persevere and adopt the online teaching strategy to keep their students busy while staying at home to avoid contracting Coronavirus, noting that some secondary schools in the state have commenced online teaching to engage their students charging discounted tuition fees, while some schools were charging full tuition rates.
“Parents are concerned about the cost of this programme, ranging from fees charged by schools to the cost of data and devices as well as the cost of fuelling generators to ensure steady electricity power supply.
“Parents also have to supervise online teachings to guard against the exposure of children to pornography, in addition to online harassment and bullying”, said the Commissioner.
Adefisayo called for continuous dialogue between school administrators and parents to seek ways to resolve issues related to the inability of parents to earn income during this period, the need for schools to pay their personnel who provide online teaching as well as the purchase of devices for teachers, including the provision of data to prepare for the daily teaching activities.
“In view of the aforementioned, we ask that schools consult extensively with parents and find a win-win solution that will be acceptable to all stakeholders”, she said.
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