Ebola scare: Sept 22 resumption date not in children’s interest — Parents, teacher

Since the Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, came into Nigeria, it has had an adverse effect on every sector in the nation. This is not just a health issue; its effects on business, transportation, religion and even education are unfathomable.

Ebola’s fingerprints, especially on education, can be seen on the Federal Government’s efforts to extend the holidays of primary and secondary school students to October 13 to protect them from contracting the virus.  Government’s decision was, however, met with displeasure especially from private school proprietors. As a result, the date was moved to September 22, 2014.

The September 22 decision is not without its own controversies; teachers, parents and stakeholders differ on whether or not schools will be free from EVD by then.

The President, Nigeria Union of Teachers, NUT, Mr. Michael Alogba, says that the decision “is not a good idea at all and students should not resume until there is no single case of Ebola in the country.”

He told Vanguard Learning: “The Federal Government has done really well in combating the scourge but I would have expected them to stick to the October 13 resumption date because we are still at a point where we are worried about the outbreak in Rivers State and the spread to other states.

“I believe that government should have remained more combative in dealing with this issue instead of succumbing to the pressure of powerful school proprietors. For our children to go back to school while EVD cases are still being recorded in different states, government should post health officers to different states to keep the states under surveillance.”

Recall that the Federal Government had called on stakeholders in the education sector to put measures in place to create an Ebola-free school environment for children. Each state ministry of education is expected to train, at least two officials from every school on how to handle any suspected case of Ebola as well as embark on immediate sensitisation of all teaching and non-teaching staff on preventive measures.

The Education Minister, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, who made this known, said “All primary and secondary schools, both public and private, should be provided with a minimum of two blood pressure measuring equipment by the states’ ministries of education. These 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 appropriate equipment is procured.

“Regular washing of hands is part of the preventive measures and there must be steady supply of water in schools. All states should ensure that this is put in place as the schools reopen.”

In compliance with the Minister’s instructions, the Lagos State Government has directed the Lagos State Water Corporation to supply pipe- borne water to no fewer than 600 public schools, and this would be ready before the September 22 resumption date.

The Lagos State Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye, at a recent sensitisation exercise on the Ebola Virus for Principals and Head Teachers of public primary and secondary schools as well as proprietors of private schools in the state, tasked education stakeholders to inculcate in the students the basic universal precaution of frequently washing their hands in the fight against the virus.

But despite this preventive measure, educationists and parents are still skeptical about allowing students to resume as more still need to be done to ensure the safety of these children.

Barely two weeks to resumption, the NUT boss is worried that there isn’t enough time to put these preventive measures in place. He said: “How many schools have complied with the measures which are supposed to be in place before resumption? How many have the adequate number of equipment or trained personnel?’

Worried that some parents will not be willing to allow their children remain in boarding houses as many of them have refused to pay boarding fees, the Principal, Hope Waddell Training Institution Calabar, Cross River State, Mr. Edet Inyang, called on government to ensure that adequate preventive measures are put in place before reopening schools.

“We have sent the name of the two teachers to the training as requested by government but we are worried that the number of days is not enough. The best thing is to wait for government to finish work before resuming as the time before resumption is short for us to prepare.

A sign warning of the dangers of ebola outside a government hospital in Freetown on August 13, 2014. The World Health Organisation (WHO) revealed that the latest death toll from the Ebola virus in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria had claimed more than1000 lives. Health Organisations are looking into the possible use of experimental drugs to combat the latest outbreak in West Africa which is also the largest ebola outbreak in history. AFP PHOTO

“It is better students stay at home till everything is ready and the virus is under control because it is a very painful experience to lose a child. Also, if a child is affected, the whole school is likely to close down, so government should really think this one through.”

Parents are also not at ease. Stressing that it is better safe In agreement is Mrs. Chinyere Adi who says schools’ remaining closed is the best option until the virus is contained to an extent because kids will not understand when you tell them to be careful

However, not all stakeholders are apprehensive about the newly scheduled resumption date. On the level of compliance with government’s directive that all schools must encourage proper hand- washing by installing functional taps by school gates for anyone coming into the schools to wash their hands and regularly check the temperature of all students, among other things, the Principal, Caro Favour Schools, Mr. Mark Okoh, said his school is ready for resumption as it already has running taps by the gate and has purchased hand sanitisers.

“We are ready to resume schools as we already have taps by the gate and have placed hand sanitisers in strategic locations in the school. The only thing remaining is to organise a training session for the teaching and non-teaching staff on how to handle any suspected case of Ebola.”

Mr. Jimoh Alli, Principal, Rockville College in Lagos, says that his school is ready and fully prepared for resumption on the 22nd of September, “though there are some issues that we need to take care of.

“Two of our staff representatives were present at the recent seminar organised by the Ministry of Education but we haven’t received the blood pressure measuring equipment from the ministry. On our part, we have two tap points inside of the compound, but are planning on getting bowls, dettol and probably sanitizers.”