FEATURED School resumption: NUT meets Thursday over COVID-19 rules, partial compliance recorded

Published January 19, 2021 ‌ Our correspondents The Nigeria Union of Teachers on Monday, amid concern about the rising coronavirus cases, said it would on Thursday hold a meeting on the pandemic and compliance with COVID-19 protocols in schools across the country. The Secretary-General of the NUT, Mike Ene, stated this in an interview with one of our corresponde nts in Abuja, as primary and secondary schools in many states reopened with partial compliance with COVID-19 safety rules.

While schools in some states observed safety rules such as social distancing and hand washing, others disregarded them as classrooms were overcrowded. The NUT Secretary-General, Ene, in the interview with The PUNCH, said Thursday’s meeting would review compliance with COVID-19 protocols with the aim of ensuring safety of teachers and their pupils. When asked to comment on safety rules in schools, he stated, “I cannot tell you whether anybody is complying with COVID – 19 protocols in states. I have never asked anybody be cause since we are all going to speak on it, there is no point calling anybody. We have called a NEC (National Executive Committee) meeting for Thursday to look at how the resumptions have been.” Earlier in an interview with one of our correspondents, Ene advised teachers to avoid hugging one another. He said it was the duty of state governments to provide personal protective equipment, adding that the union had directed its members to assess what each state provided. Ene stated, “If the government provides everything and there is running water, children know what to do. We have imbibed this practice of washing of hands. All we want is to ensure that there is regular water supply. We should avoid hugging one another and hand shaking. Our pupils and students have really wasted time and keeping them at home longer will mean that their brains will be retarded. If markets, where everybody goes are not shut, I don’t know why schools should be shut.” Meanwhile, two committees of the House of Representatives on education have disagreed over the resumption of schools. The Chairman of the House on Committee on Tertiary Institutions, Mr Aminu Suleiman, in an interview with one of our correspondents on Sunday night, said the House had yet to take a collective decision on school reopening. He, however, said academic activities should resume as commercial and religious activities were not suspended. The House Committee on Basic Education and Services had on Saturday said the country was not prepared for reopening of schools. The Chairman of the committee, Prof Julius Ihonvbere, had, in a statement on Saturday faulted the Federal Government for allowing schools to resume despite the rising cases of COVID-19. But on Sunday night, Suleiman argued that Ihonvbere’s comments were his personal opinion and that of his committee. Suleiman said, “As for the (committee on) tertiary institutions, we are completely not against the resumption. In fact, we received it with joy and happiness. We welcomed the resumption. Many Nigerians are desirous of ensuring a sustainable educational system in the country. “We (lawmakers) were carried along in all the preparations by the ministry (of Edumcation) and we are satisfied with the level of preparations and (safety) measures put in place to ensure a conducive and healthy atmosphere for both teaching and learning.” Schools in states including Enugu, Ekiti Lagos, Ogun, Ogun, Ebonyi, as well as the Federal Capital Territory resumed academic activities on Monday for the second term of the 2020/21 academic year with partial compliance with COVID-19 protocols. Our correspondents, who visited some schools in Abuja and states which resumed academic activities, reported that many public schools observed COVID-19 protocols, while others violated them. Public schools suspended early morning assemblies. But some pupils were seen entering their various classes without washing their hands or having them sanitised. At the L.E.A Primary School Gbazango, Abuja, only two out of over 15 pupils who went in as our correspondent observed them from the gate, wore face masks. Their hands were neither washed nor sanitised as they entered the school. Also, at Karu in the Abuja Municipal Area Council, schools observed the protocols partially. At the Government Secondary School, Karu, two spots for washing of hands were provided at the school gate. For the about 15 minutes that The PUNCH correspondent monitored events from the gate, however, only one female member of staff was seen washing her hands before entering the premises. Other members of staff and pupils did not do so. More compliance was however noticed among private schools. Similarly in Ogun State, some government schools in the Obafemi Owode Local Government Area partially complied with the COVID-19 directives. The correspondent, who observed activities in some schools in the Ibafo, Mowe and Ofada areas of the state, noticed that some of the safety rules on COVID-19 were partially observed or not observed at all. ‌ At the Obafemi Owode Local Government School 1, Ibafo, it was observed that most of the pupils were not wearing their face masks. At the Obafemi Owode Local Government School 2, where there was a low turn out of pupils; most pupils also were not using their face masks. There was no provision of water and soap until one of our correspondents called the attention of a teacher to it. At St. Andrew’s Nursery and Primary School, Ibara and Owu African church central school, Ita-Oyalode, Abeokuta, the state capital, it was business as usual as students went into their classrooms without washing their hands. While buckets of water and soap were placed at strategic points within the two schools, the students ignored them. At African Church Grammar school, teachers were at the gate as early as 7am sending students without face masks away from the school. This only lasted for an hour as our correspondent who visited the school again later discovered that there was unhindered entry without face masks. Pupils at the Gateway Secondary School, Ita-Iyalode, developed cold feet following the presence of the teachers at the school gate. However, one of the pupils that had entered the school came out to inform her friends that there was no restriction. This prompted others to go into the school. Some of the pupils in the school compound were, however, seen with their face masks. Also in Ondo State, the adherence to the COVID-19 protocols was ignored at the schools visited. At Oyemekun Grammar School, Akure, it was observed that the school provided buckets of water, soap and sanitisers at the school gate, but many of the pupils did not make use of them. A large number of students were also observed to have removed their nose masks after gaining entrance into the school premises. It was zero compliance at Eji-Oba High School, Oba-Ile in Akure North, Local Government Area of the state, without buckets of water, soap and sanitisers provided at the school gate, both the teachers and pupils walked in without face masks.