Following the insistence by the Federal
Government, that the September 22 resumption
date for primary and secondary schools in the
country would not be extended, several State
Ministries of Education have expressed readiness
for schools to resume, stressing that adequate
measures have been put in place to contain any
possible outbreak of the deadly Ebola Virus
Diseases, EVD, in schools.
Those that gave assurances of their preparedness
were the commissioners for education of
Anambra, Edo, Ogun, Rivers, as well as the
special adviser to Governor Babatunde Fashola of
Lagos State on Information and Strategy.
The Edo State
Commissioner for Higher Education (Secondary,
Tertiary and Technical), Barr. Washington Osifo,
who said FG’s directive for schools to resume
September 22, has been wholeheartedly accepted
by the State government, indicated, “Yes, the
September 22 resumption is not a fluke. It is
already on ground. Our judgement was based on
expert information given us by those saddled with
the responsibility of certifying that schools are
safe to resume. We organised training for
teachers on September 11, 12 and 13, across the
three senatorial districts. This does not only
include public school teachers, but also private
school teachers and at no cost to them.
Although, since the outbreak of the EVD, Edo
State has been certified 100 per cent Ebola free,
but the reason for the trainings we have
embarked upon is not just to contain Ebola, but
other contagious diseases that go with improper
hygiene common among children.”
Similarly, the Anambra State Commissioner for
Education, Prof. Kate Omenugha, affirmed the
State’s readiness to tackle the scourge even
before the directive by the Minister of Education
on September 5. Omenugha said: “Even before
the meeting with the Minister of Education, in
Abuja, on September 5, Anambra has been
proactive in preventing the EVD from gaining
entrance into the State. At the moment, we have
trained 1, 044 Head teachers of Primary Schools,
21 Education Secretaries, as well as 256
Secondary School principals. Today (Monday), my
ministry is meeting with the Ministry of Health to
further train about 5, 000 teachers this weekend.
So far, so good, having met severally with
relevant stakeholders in the state, to clearly
define what they should do ahead of and on
resumption, we are indeed ready for the
September 22, resumption.”
According to the Ogun State Commissioner for
Education, Segun Odubela, “We are ready to
resume on September 22 as proposed by the
Federal Government. The training of teachers on
how to curb the spread of Ebola, would
commence on Tuesday and end on Thursday, at
four centres in the state.”
On her part, the Commissioner for Education,
Rivers State, Dame Alice Lawrence-Nemi, said the
state commenced training for teachers on
Monday. She said: “Today, we started the
training for teachers both in public and private
schools on the Ebola Virus Disease EVD,” adding
that “the training was done in all the senatorial
districts of the state.”In the same vein, the Lagos
State government, in a statement, explained its
support for the September 22 resumption date
announced by the Federal Government.The
statement, which was signed by by the Special
Adviser to Governor Babatunde Fashola on
Information and Strategy, Alhaji Lateef Raji,
reads: “Concerning the resumption of all public
and private nursery, primary and secondary
schools for the 2014/2015 session, Lagos State
Government supports the September 22, 2014
date, which was announced by the Federal
Government after a national consultation on
efforts to contain the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD)
in Nigeria.”
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