Ebola: Proprietors, parents differ on prolonged students’ holiday




Nigerians have continued to express divergent views over the Federal Government’s directive to all primary and secondary schools in the country to remain shut until 13 October as part of the measures to prevent the spread of Ebola virus.

The Minister of Education, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, who announced the new date covering both private and public schools at that level at a recent press conference in Abuja, said the development was to allow teachers to be trained on how to handle suspected Ebola cases in schools.

But National Mirror’s investigations can reveal that two weeks after the directive none of the teachers in the schools nationwide has received any training on Ebola ahead of resumption. Most of the teachers who spoke to National Mirror on condition of anonymity including those from the Federal Government colleges said no such arrangement is in place in their schools.

Six people including the Liberian-American’s Patrick Sawyer, who imported the virus into the country, have so far died of the disease in the country with over 200 suspected cases currently under surveillance in both Lagos and Port Harcourt. However, while many stakeholders welcome the holiday extension, saying the development would greatly help in guaranteeing the health of the school children and by extension, contain the spread of the disease, some strongly oppose the order, saying it wasn’t necessary. Those who lauded the decision justified it on the premise that children are most vulnerable to diseases and emergency situation of this nature in any society.

The National President, League of Muslim School Proprietors (LEASMSP), Alhaji Taiwo Tijani is one of them. He told National Mirror that all members of his association across the country have been directed to fully comply with the order. According to him, the issue of Ebola disease is a serious one and no sacrifice will be too much to make when such will help in containing the virus.

“Even fixing a new resumption date has made the issue nothing to worry about,” he pointed out. “However, at the association level, we have told ourselves that we would have to double our efforts when we reopen to be able to cover the syllabus.”

Tijani, who is also a parent, explained that even though there was almost nothing going on in members’ schools at the moment as regards sensitisation of teachers on how to handle Ebola cases, the league has resolved to engage health experts in all its seminars and workshops even if for only 15 minutes where members, teachers, students as well as parents and guardians will be enlightened on best health practices that will include Ebola issue.

We believe such will go a long way even in quality learning,” he noted. Also agreeing with the order, Mr. Felix Olorunda, a Lagos-based real estate consultant said it would be very difficult to contain the virus if a school child was infected. According to him, children enjoy staying together and doing things in common than the adults, thus the transmission of any contagious disease is much easier among them.

He told the story of his son who is in Senior School (SS2) at the Federal College of Science and Technical, Yaba, Lagos, saying the young boy with a close friend of his wear each other’s clothes and sleep on each other’s bed most times. “Although, I have corrected him to desist from such practice, I want to believe that there are many others like them with that habit in various schools around the country.

So, imagine the implication if only one student should contract the virus,” he said, adding that, the situation becomes worse when it involves children in nursery and primary schools as more than five of them for instance, may share just one puff-puff among themselves without washing their hands and all that.

So, to me, the directive is a right decision which government got right this time around.” But the South-West Coordinator of Parents/ Teachers Association of Nigeria, Deacon Olusoji Adams has a different opinion on the issue. To him, the decision is 50/50.

What he meant by this according to him is that although Ebola virus disease needs to be contained to forestall further spread, closing down schools is not the surest way to curtail it among the children.

He explained that the country’s education system is already in mess, especially with the recent mass failure of students in the last May/June WAEC exam and therefore closing down schools would worsen the situation.

He said all that government would have done was to allow schools to reopen as originally planned and device a means to check the spread of Ebola virus in schools. According to him, keeping school children at home for more than necessary when they suppose to be in schools will put their future and that of the economy in danger. “Ok if they are not going to school.

Are they not going to market places, churches and mosques and other crowded places? What measures are in place in those places to prevent Ebola infection? I don’t know of any. So, to me, it is not necessary to prolong their resumption,” he said.

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