On schools’ continuous closure

By Rabiu Adeyika Mohammed

SIR: Setting the country’s priorities right should be the sole aim of every government.

The outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic has brought many nations of the world to a standstill and has also led to adjustments in the way of life of the people.

The Nigerian government declared lockdown on March 30 which saw many institutions ranging from the economy, education, sport and religious activities closed down.

However, May 4, saw the first phase of the easing process and the reopening of some institutions.

Unfortunately, the education sector was left out of the picture and the pupils and students were told to keep on with the waiting till further notice.

This is failure on the part of government towards education in this nation. Had there been adequate attention to education particularly in the provision of needed facilities, there will not be much talk about school re-opening being unsafe and Nigeria would have joined forward-looking countries to reopen her schools.

If markets can be reopened with given guidelines and electoral processes can be held in some part of the country, there should be no reason why schools cannot be on such precautionary guidelines as well as to see the students go on with their academics while maintaining safety directions.

Education ought to be one of those sectors deserving utmost concern since, as they say, the future of a country lies in its the educated youths.

I doubt that this is the case in my country. Countries like Germany, France and likes that understand the essence of education have cautiously reopened their schools. I hope Nigeria government will soon follow suit.

The effects of keeping students out of school will be immense when it starts to pan out.

It might lead to cases of unwanted pregnancies, cultism, and loss of jobs by private school teachers and economic crisis.

This will also disrupt academic calendar and it greatly affect the students’ academic year.

I will suggest to the government that since we cannot pause our existence due to the virus and there is no end in sight anytime soon, the government must give necessary support to our schools, spell out safety guidelines and ensure the guidelines are duly followed.

Education remains the pillar of every country; therefore our government must ensure that the pillar stands by making education sectors its priority.

• Rabiu Adeyika Mohammed, Bayero University Kano.