COVID-19 and school reopening

By Emmanuel Oladesu

Education is at a crossroads. Schools are on clutches. For three months, institutions of learning have been under lock and key nationwide. As Coronavirus takes its toll, the sector is static.

Until lately, when government muted the idea of ending the compulsory school closure, there was no end in sight to the despair. At that, the June 8 date later paled into a wild rumour. Education Minister said no date had been set or agreed upon. It is understandable.

Should schools reopen now? How realistic? Is the coast clear? Why is government in a hurry? Can government say with confidence that it is not risky? Are schools insulated from Covid-19? Does the likelihood not exist that school children will become easy prey and vectors?

Government has proposed some measures. How to implement them is the challenge. For example, the schools are to be demarcated into morning and afternoon sessions. This means the return of the shift system which some Second Republic governors abrogated. Also, junior and senior secondary students are not to resume together. The teachers and students would need adjustment to internal separations within schools.

Government believes the idea of shifting will reduce the number of students in each section and the reduction may permit social distancing. But, are the schools going to have separate morning and afternoon teachers? How will teachers cope with running two shifts?

During break periods, pupils and students troop out for sports and other extracurricular activities on the field. They play and run around in excitement. Would this not be injurious to physical and social distancing?

Boarding students come from far and near states. It means that inter-state movement ban has to be lifted before school reopening. Many students will return to school in public transport. Some will board aircraft. A lot of screening has to take place before re-admitting them into the dormitories. Do schools have capacity for these compulsory measures?

Apart from the imperative of regular pipe borne water in schools, hand sanitizers must be provided for the crowded schools. Toilet facilities must be improved on. Schools do not exist in isolation of the environment. In the neighbourhood are people, food vendors and artisans who interact with the schools on daily basis. Except those who play very significant roles, access to school premises must be highly restricted. Even, teachers and other supportive staff must undergo screening to ascertain their Covid status. The mass production and distribution of masks to students would have to be considered.

Parents are skeptical. They are cautious. They are not agitating for resumption out of fear. It is possible that the closure of schools has greatly assisted in combating the spread of the strange and dreaded disease. Will reopening not expose the schools to danger? Many of them ask.

Day students may be more vulnerable. They trek to and from school in groups. Many also take okada and commercial vehicles on a daily basis. Inside danfo, social distancing is hardly observed. Pupils are fond of lapping themselves.

The students are enveloped in confusion. At home, they are restless because the emergency break is being prolonged due to situations beyond control. Many of them long for the resumption of academic work. After all, the schools cannot be closed permanently. Time waits for nobody.

But, the Covid-19 statistics are still frightening. The curve has not become flatten. Although large scale testing has not been embarked upon, the number is on the increase daily. The fatalities are now scaring. The families of victims who are in deep agony can explain better. The vaccines are still beyond reach. The local herbs are still being tested in National Agency for Food and Drug (NAFDAC), National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD), Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) laboratories. Clinical trials have not even been attempted. At isolation and treatment centres, survivors said their immunities were being boosted to withstand virus onslaught.

During the week, the Minister of Health was quoted as saying that the Federal Government may resort to the conversion of school dormitories to isolation and treatment centres. How can this be juxtaposed with the school reopening plan?

Children of school age form the bulk of the general population. They are described as the future of the country. How would that future be secured now when a natural disaster is depriving them of the needed nurturing within the fall walls?

Although efforts are being made by the respective schools to reach out to the pupils through e-learning or virtual lessons, which is desirable, it has not met with great success. E-learning is threatened by the failure of social infrastructure. Not all parents and pupils have phone facilities. Also, power is hardly regular. The attention of pupils are diverted. Not every home is conducive for learning.

The school system has suffered from the effects of the pandemic. Schools are lagging behind in academic and extracurricular activities. Some schools had to call off end of term examinations when the virus was threatening every facet of life. In panic, parents ran to the schools to pick their children and wards. Many school compounds are now overgrown with weeds.

Some universities were just resuming for a new semester when the pestilence broke out. Screening of fresh candidates were put on hold. Tertiary institutions had to cancel lectures abruptly, and in apprehension, students hurriedly dispersed.

Primary school pupils seeking admission into secondary schools were preparing for entrance examinations, shortly before the school closure. Although the National Examination Council (NECO) had concluded plans for entrance examinations into Federal Government Unity Schools, the examination was indefinitely postponed. Parents had the duty of explaining to the children that the fear of virus had become the beginning of wisdom.

Also, the entrance examination into Lagos State public schools was cancelled, although pupils have prepared for it for months.

Many private schools also could not proceed with their entrance examinations as previously planned.

Although markets and places of worship may have been opened in some states, it is difficult to contemplate reopening the schools.

Many primary and secondary schools are congested. The enforcement of social distancing among innocent nursery and primary school pupils whose only pastime is playing with mates, inside and outside classrooms may pose a challenge.

The use of mouth and nose masks for these kids may also be burdensome. How would the kids cope, maintain hygiene and avoid contacting the highly contagious disease?

School reopening will require meticulous planning. Is prevention not better than cure? What is the assurance that pupils and students will be safe in schools, or return safe from schools? Unless the rate of infection drops, is Nigeria not likely to move from community transmission phase to school transmission phase?