School Resumption: FG Sends Warning Message To Lagos, Oyo, Other States.

The federal government has warned state governors against the full reopening of schools - Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos state had on Saturday, August 29, announced that all the schools in the state would resume on September 21 - The Nigerian Federal Governemtn has Warned all the states Governors Clamoring for the re-opening of schools not to do so, According to Federal Government, Other countries where in a haste to re-open schools and that action worsens the cases of Corona-virus in that countries, FG used The United States as a case study'

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos state had on Saturday, August 29, announced that all the schools in the state would resume on September 21

Boss Mustapha, the chairman of PTF, however, advised the states to learn from the US experience where reopening of schools escalated the cases of COVID19- Ahead of the proposed resumption of academic activities in Lagos and some other states of the federation, the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 has called for caution among the stakeholders. The Nation reports that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and chairman of the PTF, Boss Mustapha, cited how such haste escalated the COVID-19 management situation in some other countries. npowernews learnt that Mustapha said it would be in the best interest of Nigeria to stick to the pattern proven effective since the national response was launched. “It is in the above context that the PTF appreciates the on-going calls for re-opening of the education sector and indeed some sub-nationals are already making preparations for such. The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and chairman of the PTF, Boss Mustapha, during a briefing. “Whilst the PTF does not discourage making such preparations, we need to be guided by experiences from countries such as Germany, France, the United States and the UK where opening of schools in some cities led to an increase in confirmed cases and fatalities.” He further said that more sectors of the economy may soon be reopened, especially as the nation would be entering a new phase of the eased lockdown. Mustapha said the PTF would present its recommendations to President Muhammadu Buhari this week, which will determine the next phase in the national response. He noted that the last three weeks had shown a slowdown in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country, noting that, in the last four months of testing, the lowest daily figure of confirmed cases (138) was reported on Sunday, August 30. The PTF boss, however, urged caution and vigilance on the declining numbers as he noted that the virus is still potent and very dangerous.

BREAKING: FG Okays Full Reopening Of Schools For Academic Activities 

The Federal Government says state governments and school administrators should start making preparations for the full reopening of schools in the country.

Recall that schools in the country had been shut in March as part of measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease.

However, the Federal Government announced the resumption of graduating pupils effective August 4, 2020, to write this year’s West African Senior School Certificate Examination from August 17, 2020, through September 12, 2020.

But speaking on Thursday, the National Coordinator of the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19, Dr Sani Aliyu, during a briefing at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja, said the task force recommends phased return of students.

Aliyu said, “For educational institutions which include daycare, primary, secondary and tertiary institutions. Educational institutions should begin the process of working towards potentially reopening within this phase.

“However, we strongly recommend that states conduct risk assessment to ensure all schools are at a level of compliance and create a monitoring mechanism to assess, create, and monitor this level of preparedness.

“Meanwhile, all daycares and educational institutions are to remain closed to in-classes until this level of risk is assessed. And if there will be opening of schools, it must be staged and preferably carried out in phases to ensure that this does not pose a risk to the general public and in particular to vulnerable groups that might end up getting infected by students going back home.”