Ebola: Schools Now To Reopen Sept 22

THE Federal Government has announced that the resumption date for public and private primary and secondary schools across the country has been reviewed for the second time from October 13 to September 22.

  The decision to review the earlier date of October 13 announced on August 26 by Minister of Education, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, followed favourable reports on the containment of the Ebola virus disease by the Presidential Technical Committee set up to advise the government following the outbreak of the disease on July 20 this year.

  Briefing journalist shortly after an emergency meeting with all the Commissioners of Education in the 36 states of the federation and FCT, Mallam Shekarau disclosed that based on advice from experts and the containment measures that had been taken on the disease, there was a need for schools to resume earlier than announced.

   His words: “After long deliberations and taking into consideration the well-being of the students and the time required to put in place checks and balances in line with the preventive measures in view of the wide spread of our schools in all the federation, we have now agreed that primary and secondary school, public and private, will reopen and begin formal classes on Monday 22nd of September, 2014.

    “In consideration of the directives of the Federal Executive Council Meeting presided by Mr. President that in view of the positive progress report given to the Executive Council at its last meeting by the Federal Minister of Health that Nigeria is almost close to totally overcoming the Ebola Virus Disease epidemic, we decided to call this emergency meeting to consult with all the state ministries of education to decide the next line of action to recall our students back to school.

    “We take into consideration the need to put in place safety preventive measures in our schools before we reopen. This led to the forum of the minister and commissioners of education to direct that no school should reopen earlier than the 13th of October then.

    Shekarau instructed all state ministries of education to ensure that at least two staff in each school, both public and private, are trained by appropriate health workers on how to handle any suspected case of Ebola before the new opening date.

    “Those states that are yet to access the basic requirement in their schools, public and private in terms of temperature measuring thermometer, should please do the same in line with our earlier agreement that a minimum of two pieces of such equipment should be made available to schools to enable the trained staff and the school management to measure the temperature of the children as they come to school as part of the preventive measures”, he said.

  Shekarau also reiterated the need for all state ministries of education to put in place a rapid response team to address any possible reported or suspected case of Ebola.

   “As we have been advised by the Ministry of Health, any rumor should not just be dismissed by the wave of the hand, it should be taken note of, followed up, verified and the verification made known and acted upon”.

  He further called upon all state ministries of education to ensure that all public and private schools are provided with steady supply of water and soap, adding that there was a need for students to be sensitized on cultivating the habit of regular washing of their hands.

  The minister urged all the stakeholders in the education sector to revisit and rebuild school health programmes to ensure sustainable health programmes in the schools.