Partial compliance with Covid protocols as schools resume

Schools in Lagos State on Monday resumed for the second term as directed by the state government.

The Lagos State Commissioner for Education, Mrs Folasade Adefisayo, visited some schools to monitor their compliance with COVID-19 protocols.

Some of the schools she visited in the Agege area are Diary Farm Senior Secondary School, District Junior College, Sango Junior Secondary School, Agege, Sango Senior Secondary School.

Our correspondent observed that all the schools visited by the Commissioner had wash hand basins, infrared thermometers and the students in the classrooms used their face masks.

However, some students in Junior Secondary School 2 in some of the schools who were not supposed to be in school on Monday were seen loitering at the school gate without their face masks.

Adefisayo said a staggered school resumption was in place to forestall the spread of the virus.

Nursery, primary and secondary schools in states including Lagos, Ogun, Ebonyi and Nasarawa resumed academic activities today for the second term of the 2020/21 academic year.

Some higher institutions, both federal and state, had also signified their intentions to resume academic activities today.

Resumption at basic schools was delayed in many states following the second wave of COVID-19 as well as the advice by the NCDC.

Schools in Oyo State, however, resumed on January 4, while schools in Edo and Anambra states will resume in February.

The Lagos State Government, in a statement on Friday, affirmed its earlier pronouncement that all public and private schools in the state below tertiary level should resume on Monday (today).

In the statement, Adefisayo urged students and staff members to adhere to COVID-19 guidelines.

Also, the Ogun State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Abayomi Arigbabu, had on Friday directed all primary, secondary as well as government science and technical colleges to resume academic activities on Monday.

Arigbabu appealed to parents, guardians, teachers, school administrators, and other stakeholders to ensure full compliance with all coronavirus protocols

Also, the Ebonyi State Government will deploy two nurses in each public school ahead of today’s resumption to stem the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic.

The Chairman of the state chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, Mr Francis Elechi, who disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria, explained that the nurses would assist the teachers, who had been trained on the preventive measures against the second wave of COVID-19.

Our correspondents, who monitored activities at some schools in Abuja, Abeokuta, Osogbo, Ibadan, amongst others, observed partial compliance with COVID-19 protocols released by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19.

At some schools visited, there were no temperature checks for those entering the premises, even though nose covers were made mandatory for those accessing the school environment.

Handwashing facilities were also provided at the entrance of some schools but some students and parents did not wash their hands or use hand sanitisers before entering the school premises.

Nigeria is battling with the second wave of the pandemic as figures released by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control show an alarming record of daily infections as high as 1,500 cases per day.

With the spike in Covid infections all over the country, experts have warned that failure to comply strictly with Covid guidelines may trigger the further spread of the novel virus.

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The Punch