By Chijioke Okoronkwo
The recent announcement by the Federal Government that primary and secondary schools across the country should resume on September 22 has elicited mixed reactions.
The government had earlier announced October 12 as the resumption date for the schools but made a reversal after evaluating the situation regarding Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), which was brought into Nigeria by a Liberian-American, Patrick Sawyer, in July.
The Federal Government says that EVD has been effectively contained, while schools are safe to reopen for normal academic activities but some stakeholders insist that adequate protective measures ought to be put in place to guarantee the students’ safety.
The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, said that expert opinion on the Ebola crisis, spurred by the government’s containment efforts, was that the students could resume earlier than October 12.
He said that out of the 296 persons under surveillance, 255 were in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, while 41 persons were in Lagos State.
He said that after three weeks of surveillance in Lagos, 320 persons had been removed from surveillance list in the state.
Against this backdrop, the Minister of Education, Ibrahim Shekarau, said that adequate measures had been put in place to curb the spread of EVD in the country.
He also said that states had been directed to appoint desk officers on Ebola information before Sept. 22, the date fixed for the schools’ resumption.
Besides, Shekarau said that each state ministry of education was expected to train at least two officials for every school on how to handle any suspected case of Ebola infection.
He said that the ministries were also expected to embark on immediate sensitisation of all teaching and non-teaching staff in all schools to the disease-prevention measures.
“All primary and secondary schools, both public and private, should be provided with a minimum of two blood pressure measuring equipment by the state ministries of education.
“The state ministries should determine the number of such equipment required and forward same to the Federal Ministry of Education.
“The Federal Ministry of Education will liaise with the Federal Ministry of Health to ensure that the appropriate equipment is procured.
“State governments are also called upon to support their state ministries of education with all necessary funds to ensure effective implementation of these preventive measures.
“As regular washing of hands is one of the preventive measures, there must be steady supply of water in schools. All states should ensure the availability of water as the schools reopen.
“All state ministries of education should again establish a working and monitoring team for effective supervision of school activities before and after the opening of schools.
“The names of such desk officers, their phone numbers and e-mail addresses should be communicated to the headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Education,” Shekarau added.
In a swift reaction, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) disagreed with the directive, saying that schools should not be reopened until all those under surveillance for EVD across the country were certified free.
The Secretary-General of NMA, Dr Olawunmi Alayaki, conveyed the association’s position on the government’s decision on schools’ resumption.
“Schools should be shut till the last suspected case or patient is certified free of the virus.
“The resumption of schools could be shifted till December or early part of next year because if Ebola should spread to any school, it would assume another dimension.
“We can shift the resumption date till next year or in the next three months if that is the time it will take. Government should have enough time to follow the standard procedure for containing the virus.
“Nigeria is peculiar because of her large population and we should be pragmatic and proactive. It will not augur well for the country if we have another outbreak due to carelessness,’’ Alayaki said.
Expressing a similar viewpoint, the House of Representatives said that the Sept. 22 date resumption for schools ought to be reviewed until EVD was effectively contained.
Rep. Victor Ogene, the Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, argued that since some people were still under surveillance, it would be somewhat risky and hasty to allow students to resume their studies by Sept. 22.
He stressed that the House Committee on Education would take another look at the issue “in the overall interest of the pupils and students, parents and guardians and the general wellbeing of the entire country’’.