Following the decision of the Nigerian government on school reopening, the Nigeria Academy of Education has urged the government to release adequate funds to schools to provide the needed care for students.
The advice was made in a statement signed by its president Elizabeth Eke and the publicity secretary Owoicho Akpa.
It observed that since examination will be conducted in the next four months, necessary precautions should be taken in order to prevent the spread of the virus.
It said schools should be fumigated, social distancing observed, especially in the examination arrangements, masks should be made available, with sanitisers, running water and soap provided.
“For schools without pipe borne water in the rural areas, tanks ought to be provided. Verification checks and continuous monitoring are necessary, both through self-assessment and with external inspectors.
“Schools in areas that are physically insecure should be provided with armed security.”
Orientation for teachers and students, no matter how brief, is essential. Students and teachers are expected to be tested.”
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The academy said that it would host three webinars from August, to discuss comprehensive strategies for dealing with short and long term effects of coronavirus, urging school authorities and management to ensure that the guidelines are followed.
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The leadership of the academy also solicited for public-private arrangements toward raising funds for schools, stressing that supplementary school feeding was needed at the time of examinations.
“Parents have the final responsibility to decide whether their children return to school or not, although with all the examinations scheduled, the temptation to follow the tide may be very strong.
“Those who decide to send their children should not be deterred from doing so over lack of funds. They should be enabled to follow through with their decision,” the group noted.
According to the academy, COVID-19 has ushered in a new normal for all and there is a need for adaptation of fresh mentality for both private and public schools to cope.
The academy appreciated the government’s decision which saved the country the embarrassment of an open fractionalisation of the Nigerian front as some states exercised their concurrency rights in education and decided to send in their students for the WAEC examinations.
“As on the global scene, arguments hinged on balancing the health implications arising from continuously spreading Covid-19 pandemic, especially in the face of inadequate response strategies and shortcomings in testing, against the need to make progress in education and reopen the economy.
“Opinions are sharply divided as to whether or not the resumption should take place; the fear is that the resumption may exacerbate the situation and lead to higher casualty”.
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“We note that schools’ resumption in other climes, like the United States, worsened the spread of the virus. Out of those experiences, precautionary measures have been learned.”
“We, in the NAE, do not wish away the profound arguments, but we have the professional responsibility to accept the resumption and advise on how best to circumvent a worsening situation.
“As a people, we must then ensure that this decision turns out to be beneficial to Nigeria and does not lead to regrets.”
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