Ebola: South-west States Announce New Measures for Schools

Many states across the South-west region are putting in place new strategies to contain any outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in order to meet Monday’s resumption date announced by the federal government.

In Oyo State, the Commissioner for Education, Prof. Solomon Olaniyonu, said government and relevant stakeholders had put in place mechanisms to ensure that schools resume on Monday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that in Ibadan, the sensitisation on the disease had been ongoing among the stakeholders.

“Oyo State schools will resume on September 22 as promised because enough sensitisation campaigns have been ongoing on the disease.
“We have been meeting with all stakeholders including principals, teachers and students,” Olaniyonu said.

He also said his ministry met with the Board of Technical and Vocation Education and the All Nigerian Confederation of Secondary Schools Principals(ANCOPS).
The ministry, he added, had deployed top government officials to rural areas to sensitise residents on the disease before the resumption of schools.
“If not for the fact that there is no proper demarcation of boundaries, there would have been no fear of Ebola virus in this state,” he said.

He said the Federal Ministry of Education had requested for the number of schools so that the federal government could help out with the facilities needed to fight against the Ebola virus.

The Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) in the state, Mr. Waheed Olojede, however, said schools would not resume until adequate measures were in place.

“Until adequate measures are put in place by government to check the spread of the dreaded Ebola virus, no school will resume,” he said.

Okojede said apart from the sensitisation exercise carried out by the Ministry of Education, no facility was in place in schools to prevent the spread of the disease.


The President of the All Nigerian Confederation of Secondary Schools Principals (ANCOPSS) in the state, Mrs. Olufunmilayo Ojoawo, said the resumption date was a source of concern to the body.

She also said preventive kits were yet to be put in place in schools to check the disease.
“ If an infected EVD child enters a school, it will just spread like wildfire and this will be very bad, ” she said.

In Ogun, the state government said it had trained no fewer than 12, 000 teachers to handle any possible outbreak of Ebola in schools, ahead of Monday’s resumption date.

The state Commissioner for Education, Segun Odubela, stated this in an in an interview where he noted that the teachers were drawn from public and private primary and secondary schools in the state.

He added that an additional 3,000 teachers were trained on Thursday.
The commissioner said that the training programme was facilitated by the state Ministry of Health and some private medical practitioners in the state.
He added that the state had also procured preventive and protective gadgets like hand-gloves and sanitisers for use in the schools.

Odubela said that the state government was already liaising with the Federal Ministry of Education for the procurement of infra -red thermometers to check the temperature of students before resumption.

He explained that the government was also making efforts to ensure that there were clean toilets and running water in the schools.

Odubela said a special desk had been created in the ministry with a dedicated line for issues relating to the disease.

The Head teacher of Lawson International Private School, Mr. Anthony Kansi, said government had put in place adequate measure to contain any outbreak.
"We are fully prepared for Monday’s resumption. All our students will be properly screened before resumption.

"Their temperature will also be checked to ensure that any case of exceptionally high temperature is reported to nearest hospital for prompt health care,’’ he said.

In Akure, Ondo State, investigations revealed that teachers may resume for duty on Monday.

The Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) in Ondo State, Mr Solomon Igbelowowa, said the state government had given an assurance that all necessary preventive measures would be in place before Monday.

Igbelowowa said the union had met with the government and was satisfied with the outcome of the meeting.

“Our position is clear. We want the government to assure us that the lives of our children are not endangered by taking precautionary measures against outbreak of the dreaded disease in our schools.

“The Ondo State Government has assured us that sensitisation and training of teachers on prevention and early detection of the virus would start on Thursday.
“However, I can assure you that teachers will not resume if government reneges on its promise.

“ We have no problem with September 22, we are only concerned about the wellbeing of our children,” he said.

The proprietor of Main Minaret Group of Schools, Oba – Ile, Akure, Mr. Yunus Junaid, said the school had appointed a desk officer saddled with the responsibility of sensitising the pupils on basic personal hygiene.

According to Junaid, the desk officer will monitor pupils’ health and report any unusual health development to the relevant health bodies.

The proprietor, however, expressed regret over the high cost of infrared thermometer.
He said that the school could only encourage regular hand washing with soap and water “since we have sanitisers in place and water is running in our school premises.’’

Similarly, the Principal of Wexford College, Oba – Ile, Akure, Mr. Lanre Alajo, said the school had complied with government’s directive to put in place all necessary facilities to check the EVD.

“We place a high premium on the wellbeing of our pupils here.
“ That is why we have engaged the service of qualified medical personnel to screen pupils, staff and visitors before they enter our premises, ” Alajo said.
In Kwara, the state government said that it would soon commence training of teachers to contain the disease.

The state Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development,Alhaji Saka Onimago, stated this in Ilorin.

He said all schools in the 16 local government areas would provide two teachers each to be trained on containing an outbreak.

The commissioner stated that the exercise would commence as soon as the Federal Ministry of Health and Education provided the necessary materials.
Onimago, however, said all public and private schools had been directed to resume on Monday for the first term of the 2014/2015 academic session.

“All schools are also directed to provide basic hygiene materials such as soaps, washing bowl, towels and hand sanitisers for teachers and students,” he said.

In Osun, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Mr. Lawrence Oyeniran, said government had met with stakeholders on how to contain the disease.

Oyeniran who spoke in Osogbo said the state government had ensured that teachers and health

workers were given adequate training.
"Bearing in mind that children will be coming from different homes, it becomes important that teachers are given the basic knowledge on how to prevent the outbreak of the disease.

"Apart from updating them on basic health management issues, they will be refreshed on how to assist students to improve on personal hygiene.
“Two health workers will be on ground in each school, and for them to work effectively, we have bought hand thermometers for their use.

“These thermometers will be used to check the temperature of each student as they come into the school to ensure that anyone who has high temperature or signs of fever will be excused to receive medical attention before coming to school.

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