The Federal Government says state governments and school administrators should start making preparations for the full reopening of schools in the country.
It would be recalled that schools in the country were 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 Examinations from August 17, 2020, through September 12, 2020.
Some state governments such as Lagos and Kogi had subsequently announced the full reopening of schools effective mid-September.
Speaking, yesterday, 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 to classrooms.
Aliyu said, “For educational institutions which include day care, 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.”
Also, the Federal Government said that the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) should start making preparations to reopen its orientation camps nationwide.
Orientation camps across the country had been shut in March as part of measures to curb the spread of the Coronavirus disease.
But speaking, yesterday, 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 was in the process of developing “strict guidelines” to forestall the outbreak of infections when NYSC camps reopen.
Aliyu said, “For the National Youth Service Corps, the NYSC is to consolidate on safety measures currently being put in place and start preparing for the reopening of orientation camps when educational institutions open.
“We are in the process of developing strict guidelines to ensure there is no outbreak of Covid-19 when this process starts.”
Earlier, the NYSC Director-General, Brig. General Shuaibu Ibrahim, had said the scheme had embarked on measures to enable safe and efficient conduct of its operations as soon as Federal Government approved the reopening of its camps.
“Conscious of the possibility of the further or complete lifting of lockdown, the strategies mapped out by the NYSC management had taken care of various scenarios and would be presented to the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 through the Nigeria Centre for Disease Centre (NCDC) for guidance,” Ibrahim had said.
Similarly, the Federal Government said that the nationwide curfew in place in the country to restrict movement amid the Coronavirus pandemic is now from 12am to 4am.
The National Coordinator of the Presidential Taskforce on Covid-19, Dr Sani Aliyu, made this known during a briefing at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja, yesterday.
Aliyu said, “I will first of all start with general movement. We are modifying the curfew to commence from 12 midnight to 4am nationwide, effective from 12:00 tonight.
“This does not apply to people on essential services and international travellers that might be returning from abroad.”
The PTF, following the lifting of the total lockdown occasioned by the pandemic, had on May 4, 2020, imposed a nationwide curfew from 6pm to 8am. It later reviewed the timing to between 10pm and 4am on June 1, 2020.
The PTF had also lifted the ban on inter-state movement and okayed the resumption of domestic and international flights.