As Schools Reopen In Rivers…

The Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, on August 4, ordered the phased reopening of schools, shut in March as a result of the spread of the Coronavirus Pandemic, to enable students in exit classes begin revisions, preparatory to the commencement of their 2020 West African School Certificate Examinations (WASCE), in both public and private schools across the state.
The directive followed an earlier announcement by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) in July, of today as new date for the commencement of the rescheduled external examinations for Senior Secondary three (SS3) students in Nigeria, Ghana, The Gambia, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Two other external examination bodies: National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB) will begin examinations on September 21 through October 15 while National Examinations Council (NECO) fixed October 5 to November 18 date for Senior School Certificate Examinations (SSCE); October 17 for National Common Entrance Examinations (NCEE); Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE) for JSS3 students August 24 through September 7, and BECE re-sit on November 11 and 12.
Before the directive, the Federal Government had released the “Covid-19 Guidelines for Safe Reopening of Schools and Learning Facilities” under the “Education Coordinated Covid-19 Response Strategy”, with four-phased reopening procedures to minimise the risk of infections in schools and resurgence of Covid-19 in the communities. It listed measures to be put in place as part of the gradual reopening process to include: “Training of teachers and other personnel on safety and hygiene measures”; establishing a Covid-19 referral system”; “ensuring availability of an ambulance and access to a testing/isolation/treatment centre, including Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) helpline and state government facilities”; and “ensuring adequate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities across the school premises”.
Others are, “de-congesting classrooms, hostels, worship centres and other spaces”; “encouraging use of open spaces for gathering and promoting outdoor activities”; and “establishing a staff/students committee for regular surveillance, monitoring and enforcement of Covid-19 guidelines”.
Already, the government had done the right thing by implementing an e-learning programme for both public and private schools, to avail pupils and students the opportunity to cover their syllabuses for the academic session while also preparing those in exit classes for the WASCE. Although the e-learning template was, and still remains a difficult new module in the education development strategy with some limitations, it does bring with it, tremendous benefits to the pupils, students, parents and guardians as well as the school system and the education administrators.
The Rivers State governor’s decision to re-open schools for students in exit classes, therefore, is sequel to the report of the state Ministry of Education, in conjunction with its Health counterpart, certifying that the schools were “safe and ready” to reopen for students in exit classes following a series of consultative stakeholders’ meetings, and on-the-spot assessment visits to both public and private schools across the state.
In making the report, both ministries and other stakeholders had assured the governor that every necessary precautions had been taken to guarantee the safety and health of the students, teachers and other personnel by cleaning up and decontaminating the schools, providing sufficient hygiene kits such as hand sanitisers, hand washing soaps, tap-fitted buckets for running water, face masks and face shields, while commitments had been extracted from the authorities to ensure observance of extant Covid-19 protocols to stave off the threats of the pandemic in their schools. Besides, the authorities had also adjusted their classroom seating arrangements to allow for enough spacing to meet the approved social distancing guidelines in schools.
The Tide agrees with the governor that enough has been done to protect the students and their teachers by creating safe and risk-free environment for direct-impact teaching and learning in the schools. This is why we condemn the untoward actions of the principals of Community Secondary School, Elibrada; and Community Secondary School, Rumuji, both in Emohua Local Government Areas, who brazenly undermined the directives of government on enforcement of all Covid-19 guidelines while at the same time converting hygiene kits distributed to the schools for personal use. We believe that the sack of the principals would serve as deterrent to others who may want to undercut government’s genuine intentions and strategic policy goals. We, therefore, appeal to the relevant authorities to ensure sustained compliance with all guidelines for the prevention of the spread of Covid-19 in schools.
To achieve the desired objective, we call for sustained preventive actions through regular monitoring of compliance in schools to ensure the safety and health of all learners, teachers, administrators, and other education personnel. The Joint Risk Assessment for Safe Reopening of Schools and Learning Facilities Checklist must be periodically reviewed to ensure there are no breaches of any items in the guidelines.
All stakeholders must work together to ensure the success of the schools reopening mandate as a guide to the gradual reopening of the entire education system. We say so because if the reopened schools deliver on their mandate without any significant exacerbation of the current trend of the pandemic, chances are that government would fast-track the reopening of the entire sectors of the country.
We regret that as at 11:55pm on August 12, 2020, Covid-19 had taken the lives of 956 Nigerians, with a total 47,743 confirmed cases, 12, 844 active cases, and 33,943 discharged patients, since the index case on February 27, and first death on March 23, this year. Out of that number, Rivers State had 1,972 recorded cases and 55 deaths, with 1,721 patients discharged from treatment centres. This is one death too many, and one scourge too harrowing to be pampered. The education system should be able to lead the way in the safe recovery of Nigerians from this forced new way of life by protecting learners, teachers, administrators, parents, and all stakeholders while providing high-quality future for Nigeria. We must act collectively now to stop Covid-19! This is a task for all Nigeirans!!