Federal Government Declares That All Schools Can Now Reopen

The federal government has approved the full reopening of schools across the country for the commencement of the new academic session.

Wothapen.com reports that the national coordinator of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Sani Aliyu, gave the directive at the PTF briefing on Thursday, September 3.

Aliyu, who directed the schools to conduct a risk assessment, said the reopening would be done in phases.

He said: “For educational institutions which includes – daycare, primary, secondary and tertiary educational institutions should we begin the process of working towards potentially reopening within this phase.

“However, we strongly recommend that states conduct risk assessment to ensure that all schools are at a level of compliance and create a monitoring mechanism to access and monitor this level of compliance.

“Meanwhile all daycare and educational institutions are to remain closed to in-passing classes until this level of risk is assessed and if there will be opening up 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 developer bill groups that might end up getting infected by students going back home.

The federal government had ordered a nationwide closure of schools in March to contain the spread of COVID-19 but in July, the government approved the reopening of schools for students who are currently sitting for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).