No plans to reopen schools on June 8 ‘We are not taking that risk yet’ – FG

By our reporter| The Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 on Wednesday refuted reports that schools across the country are going to reopen on June 8, 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Nigeria’s minister of state for education, Emeka Nwajiuba who is a member of the PTF, noted that the reports are false as the Federal Government is yet to decide on when schools would reopen.

The minister said, “The material that the Chairman of the PTF spoke about, which is an announcement purportedly from him that we are reopening all schools on the 8th, did not emanate from us. It is not true.”

“Until we are sure that these children can go to school, return safely and not bring home with them, this COVID material, and infect people who are more susceptible to the disease than they are, then we are running a huge risk and god forbid that in our hurry, something happens to our children, I’m not sure how anybody will be able to retrieve what would have been lost.

“So we are not taking that risk yet. We are going to prepare as much as possible, within the guidance that they (health authorities) offer us, working in conjunction with the World Health Organisation before we reopen schools”.

Nwajiuba, however, explained that while it is still currently not safe to reopen schools, plans are being made to see how the system can keep running despite the pandemic.

He said a publication would be released shortly as to what the re-opening of schools should look like, post-COVID.

He continued, “We are not talking about coping with COVID – there’s a difference. We’ve come to understand that COVID may not necessarily go away so we expect that we will adapt such that in the presence of COVID, we can still do what we need to do.”