Ogun Back Down On COVID-19 Test For Students After Protest

Following the protests and appeal from concerned parents and other Ogun State residents, the Ogun State Government has announced that COVID-19 tests will no longer be required for resumption of SS3 students. 

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In a series of tweets, the Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun,  shared the state’s intentions to run the COVID-19 tests for free for all SS3 students.

Following the Federal Ministry of Education’s recommendation and  the release of time table for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) timetable, the state had put in place guidelines to ensure the safety of students as they resume on August 4, 2020, for their examination. Among these guidelines was the compulsory COVID-19 test for all returning students. 

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The Ogun State Government had earlier provided free testing for all boarding students in public schools and requested that the management and parents of private schools make arrangements to get COVID-19 tests done for their students.

To meet the demand for the expected number of students that will be taking the tests, the Ogun State Ministry of Education, Science and Technology listed some NCDC accredited private test centres as alternatives for walk-in tests. However, these centres charge N50,400 per test which was later negotiated to N25,000 for students in private schools by the Ministries of Health & Education.

Considering the high cost of   the test on the part of parents, the Ogun State Governor has directed that the Government Laboratories carry out tests for all returning SS3 boarding students at no cost. 

Taking into account the limitation with regards to time, the number of students who will be required to take the COVID-19 tests, and the testing capacity of 500 tests per day, the Governor agreed that it would be unrealistic to expect all students to be tested by August 17, 2020. 

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He said, “The health of our children remains our utmost priority, however in view of the total number of boarding students to be tested (5,340private and 500 public), and bearing in mind the limitation of our installed testing capacity of 500 tests per day, it may not be feasible for all boarding students to get tested and get their results prior to resumption or even exams which commence on 17th August 2020”.

As a way forward, the Ogun State Government has stepped down the COVID-19 test as a mandatory requirement for returning students in exit classes, entrusting the well-being of students to Private School owners. 

On this, Governor Dapo Abiodun said, “The admittance of students into boarding house in private secondary schools will be at the discretion of the management and the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) of such private schools. Ogun State Government recommends that students who do not have to stay in the boarding house should attend school from home, especially those with underlying health conditions”. 

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The Governor also went ahead to direct the provision of face masks to all students in both private schools and public schools and expressed his regret for the inconvenience experienced by parents since the earlier announcement. 

He said, “The inconvenience and confusion experienced yesterday is highly regrettable and my sincere apologies to the parents and students so affected. The quality and standard of education and well being of our children are issues that are very dear to my heart. I appreciate the cooperation, support, resilience and understanding of all the people of Ogun State towards flattening the curve of COVID-19 in Ogun State. It is my prayer that this phase will end soonest”.