The Federal government has disclosed that the impact of coronavirus is still not convincing to reopen schools.
The Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba stated this on Monday during the briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19.
The Minister debunked the rumor that schools would resume on the 21st of June by some rumor peddlers describing it as fake news.
According to Nwajiuba, when there is a need to do so, advice from an expert has to be considered on whether it would be safe to open schools.
He revealed ‘this is to avoid the mistake of shipping the students in and out of schools.”
The Minister continued that his ministry would not lead Nigerians into danger simply because they were in a hurry to reopen schools.
In his statement, “I’ll not want to experiment with your children.
“What we’re planning is to bring those that’ll be exiting from Junior Secondary to Senior and those who will be writing the West Africa Examinations Council to write their promotion exams.
“We’re, however, looking at when the interstate lockdown will be reopened so the children can move to write their exams in their schools.’
Meanwhile, Boss Mustapha, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation who also doubled as the Chairman of the COVID-19 Task Force said they would not want to risk reopening schools in other to avoid the severe consequences of what happened in other climes.
He sighted South Korea who attempted to reopen schools and had to hurriedly have shut them again when the cases escalated.
He added, in Israel also, the authorities attempted opening schools and had to shut them again.
Therefore, we should learn from the experience of others the SGF added.
Mustapha lamented the effort of Southeast authorities especially when concerning the testing, saying, not much has been done and the task force could not understand the extent of the spread of the virus as there is a need to make adequate preparations.
In his statement, “Of about 76, 800 plus of the number of tests we’ve conducted, when I looked at the 5 south-eastern states, they accounted for just 1,625 as of June 1.
“That number is an indication of under-testing and it’s a message that should go out to all the states.
Do not under-test because when it’ll blow up on your face, you’ll get overwhelmed.
“So, begin to search now and test so that you know what eventually might come your way and you begin to prepare for it.
“For all the states that have not been ramping up their tests, my advice to them is: ramp up your tests, test, test, and test,” he urged.
Meanwhile, the Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development, Sadiya Umar-Farouk, said about 3.6million vulnerable Nigerians were now on the National Social Register.