COVID-19: Ebonyi to reopen schools in August

By OGOCHUKWU ANIOKE, Abakaliki

Ebonyi state government says schools will reopen in the state between August and September.

The State Governor, David Umahi, stated this during the virtual Executive Council Meeting in Abakaliki, the state capital.

He said the reopening of schools will be done in phases.

He said: “The public should note that Ebonyi State will reopen her schools immediately, not in the month of July, we have to start the process that will lead us probably to reopen our schools between August and September.”

“And the process will be, the king David academy will be starting first, I am directing that all the coordinators, the chairmen of all the 13 LGAs, traditional rulers, town union presidents, should use local people to clear all the secondary schools, primarily schools. They should clear that, it has been happening before, everything is not government.”

“So let us get them cleared when we do that I want Commissioner for Education, SSA Higher education, to note very specially that this is the time to develop e-syllables, starting with the teachers, this is the opportunity to develop e- learning that we have been talking about,” he added.

The Governor said the government will train the teachers and students on COVID-19 protocols before the schools resume adding that the teachers will also undergo COVID-19 tests.

“Reopening of schools will start with cleaning of the schools, and every school we clean, we will fumigate it, and then do random test on the teachers. We will also deploy health workers to mount awareness within the communities where the school is situated.”

“When school start we will have trained personnel to teach the children on Covid-19 protocols at least for the first one week.

“This covid is real and we need to be very careful. It is not just to start school and all that, even if Nigerians should miss one academic year and stay alive, it is worth it. The essence of everything we are doing is life, and we wouldn’t want our children to start school without proper awareness.” (The Nation)