Barely a week after the re-sumption of primary schools in Rivers State, parents have called on Heads of Primary and Nursery schools to ensure the adherence of COVID-19 protocols for the safety of their children.
The parents said one of such ways was to strengthen social distancing among the children by reducing the number of pupils and children in a class.
Speaking with a cross section of parents shortly after a brief Parents Teachers Association (PTA) meeting of Toria International School, Oyigbo, last Friday, the parents maintained that a class of 20-25 pupils was too much a number to check the contraction and spread of the COVID 19 virus.
They said the call became imperative following the fact that as children, they would not be able to comply with the measures and thereby stressed the need for teachers in the various classes to aid the kids.
According to a parent and medical practitioner, Dr Patricia Uzoma, “these children are only but kids. You can’t expect them to behave like us the adults. As adults for instance, you know how to position yourself when sneezing and those around you also know how to distant their faces or bodies from you who sneeized but these kids do not know all that”.
“It is therefore required of the school to keep these kids distant from one another and the teachers too to help them to keep up with the measures. That way, we are sure that our children and wards are safe at least in that regard”, she said.
Another parent, Chike Manilla said the reduction in the number of pupils in a class was also necessary considering the season.
Manilla said “most of their classrooms are small. The weather now is hot. As the children play, they sweat and rob it on one another. So, if they are many in the class, there is a high risk of contracting the virus” .
The parents further commended the state government for delaying the resumption to a time when the music of the pandemic was drastically winding low.

By: Lady Godknows Ogbulu