COVID-19: Lawmakers urge FG to review schools resumption date

The House of Representatives Committee on Basic Education and Services on Saturday urged the federal government to review the January 18 resumption date for schools in the country over COVID-19 fears.

Several States governments in Nigeria had directed schools in their domains to resume academic activities on January 18.

The Chairman of the committee, Julius Ihonvbere, who made the call in a statement titled: “School resumption: Are we truly prepared?,” implored the government to postpone the resumption by an additional three months over fears that there are no adequate measures in schools to check the spread of the COVID-19.

The statement read: “We are particularly concerned that when the infection rates hovered around 500 and under, schools were closed but now that it hovers well above 1,000 infections daily, schools are being reopened. Why are we rushing to reopen schools without adequate verifiable and sustainable arrangements to protect and secure our children?

“The committee fully appreciates the implications of continued school closure on the education sector and the larger economy and society. We also acknowledge that the pandemic would remain with us for a while and we must design ways to live with it.

“Aside Lagos and a couple of other states governments are unable to enforce COVID-19 protocols. People no longer wear facemasks or use sanitizers.

“Public enlightenment campaigns have more or less stopped. Merely saying they would adhere to the protocols is no guarantee. In rural areas, the situation is worse.”

“Our position is that in spite of the very comprehensive protocols established by the Federal Ministry of Education, not up to 10 percent of our educational institutions have implemented five percent of the protocols.

“In most of our primary and secondary schools nationwide, adequate furniture, water, and other sanitation and hygiene facilities do not exist. Many poor parents would require support with facemasks and sanitizers for their children. We have not heard of how this would be addressed.

“We doubt that teachers, instructors and school managers have been adequately trained and prepared to handle COVID-19 safety protocols. We also know that adequate funds have not been provided to schools to cope with demands that accompany the new normal.

“We would like to challenge the Federal Ministry of Education to first, independently monitor the extent of basic compliance with established protocols in all our schools and not just take words of state and local authorities as given.

“The lives of our children are worth much more than the interests and comfort of any politician or bureaucrat. It is only after a minimum 75 percent nationwide compliance that we can seriously talk about reopening schools.”