By Martin Paul, Abuja

Hope of a smooth re-opening of schools throughout the federation today, January 18, as announced by the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu last Thursday, has been hit oppositions.

The oppositions viewed that the government needed to put safety measures in place in the wake of COVID-19 second coming before opening the schools.

They also contended that the second wave of COVID-19 has killed more persons in the country than before, hence should not be joked with.

Adamu had disclosed that after due consultation with stakeholders, policy makers and parents, a decision had been reached to re-open all schools in the country today.

Hours after the news, dissenting voices echoed in the social media, describing the directives as impromptu, ill-timed and without enough preparation for the re-opening of schools.

House of Reps Unhappy over State of Schools

 House of Representative Committee on Basic Education and Services in a statement said the earlier decision to re-open schools at all level in the country was ill-timed.

Chairman of the committee, Professor Julius Ihonvbere, who signed the statement, observed that adherence to the safety measures prescribed by the authorities to guard against the spread of COVID-19, had been abandoned.

The lawmakers, sought among other conditions, three months postponement to enable the state and local governments to put all the necessary facilities in place before the resumption.

 “The Committee on Basic Education and Services, House of Representatives has received with some concern the decision of the Federal Government to reopen schools on January 18, 2021.

“We are particularly concerned that when the infection rates hovered around 500 and under, schools were closed but now that it hovers well above 1000 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.

“Similarly, we acknowledge the argument that most young persons have not been as affected by COVID-19 and many are asymptomatic.

“Yet, it does not mean they have full immunity against the virus. We also know that they would be working and interacting with adult teachers, administrative workers and other persons that do not live within the institutions.

“Aside from Lagos and a couple of other states, governments are unable to enforce COVID-19 protocols. People no longer wear facemasks or use sanitisers. Public enlightenment campaigns have more or less been 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 per cent of our educational institutions have implemented five per cent 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 sanitisers 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 of 75% nationwide compliance that we can seriously talk about reopening schools.

 “Given that in primary and secondary schools, in particular, there are no facilities for effective social distancing in the classrooms, part of the compliance requirements must be the introduction of morning and afternoon batches into the schools when they reopen to reduce overcrowding.

“Special cleaning crews with sufficient sanitisers must be deployed to the classrooms before and after each stream. Hand washing before entering the classroom and use of sanitiser once seated must be made mandatory”. the lawmakers stated.

 The school feeding programme, according to them,  should be suspended and converted to sealable snacks to be distributed once classes are over.

Group Expresses Worry, Wants Safety Measures in Place

Also, a Civil Society Group has decried the plans to resume academic activities without adequate safety measures to contain the devastating impacts of the second wave of COVID-19.

National Coordinator of Network for Democracy and Development, (NDD), Mr Tajudeen Alabede, who made the call in a maiden Virtual Press Conference of the group said it was discomforting that government officials had not gone beyond issuing of  statements to observe COVID-19 protocols.

The group stated that leaving the hapless students, pupils and staff to their fate was worrisome as adequate safety measures were not put in place by the Federal and State Governments to contain the spread of the disease.

 Alabede noted that instead of general resumption, there could have been a well-coordinated phased resumption in a way that would prevent overcrowding in the institutions.

“The consequences of poorly regulated resumption plans amidst the rising cases of COVID-19 may be catastrophic. Nigeria has witnessed a devastating impact of the second wave of COVID-19, including the death of some high-profile citizens in the past few weeks.

“NDD is, therefore, alarmed by the plans by educational institutions across the country to resume academic activities without adequate safety measures.

“NDD considers this inappropriate as the primary duty of any government is the security and wellbeing of the citizens”.

“In the minimum, government should consider providing facilities for virtual classes, deploying health and security personnel to schools to handle emergencies, providing hand sanitisers and masks to students and staff, providing testing facilities for compulsory testing of all students and staff and setting up isolation centres in all local governments.

“We commend the University of Ilorin and a few other institutions that have properly articulated their phased resumption plans. The education sector embraces the largest percentage of citizens  from kindergarten to postgraduate classes. It is a sector that is most affected by COVID-19 pandemic”, he said.

He noted that for almost a year that the country has been battling with COVID-19,  the nation is yet to take advantage of the pandemic and its attendant negative effects to radically overhaul the affected sectors, especially, education, health and agriculture, with a view to bringing them in compliance with the new realities. “Almost one year after the index case of COVID-19 was recorded in Nigeria, we seem not to have learnt many lessons.

“The nation is yet to take advantage of the pandemic and its attendant negative effects to radically overhaul the affected sectors, especially, education, health and agriculture, with a view to bringing them in compliance with the “new normal.” “COVID-19 should provide an impetus for an upgrade of the nation’s health facilities. Greater attention needs to be given to primary healthcare.

The effort to strengthen the health system should include a massive investment in Primary Health Centres across the country. If a major percentage of annual budgetary allocation to health could be spent in this area, this will reduce the burden on the tertiary health institutions which are to focus and deliver on specialist services”.

“In addition to this, public awareness on public health should increase, National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) should be reorganized to meet up with global best practices and changing trends of health care needs and there should be more investment in research and development, alternative medicine and the training and remuneration of medical personnel to discourage brain drain. Nigeria should strive to come out of the pandemic stronger.”

NDD advocated fashioning out of a comprehensive National Homeland Security Strategy to prevent counter-productivity of security outfits created by States and Local Governments He noted that the pragmatic National Homeland Security Strategy would ensure devolution of more responsibilities to States, strengthening of community policing and help achieve greater national security in a well-regulated environment.

 “NDD notes that the increased cases of criminal activities across the country have led to a proliferation of security outfits. Many State Governments and local communities have set up security outfits to complement the effort of federal agencies. While the precarious situation demands that all hands must be on deck, the proliferation, without adequate coordination, could be counter-productive in the long run.”

“Government should also invest more in intelligence gathering, motivation and proper welfare for security personnel and ensure that the equipment needed to properly combat the nation’s multi-faceted security challenges are provided”, Alabede added.