Nigeria: Decontamination of Schools Begins Ahead of Resumption Dates

Posted by African Examiner Featured, Latest Headlines, News Across Nigeria, News From The State Monday, July 6th, 2020

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – The Federal Government of Nigeria has announced that the decontamination of schools against the spread of COVID-19 will begin on Tuesday (Today) in preparation for the resumption of class activities.

The Minister of Environment, Muhammad Mahmood, disclosed this in Abuja at the briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19.

Mahmood also assured that it had enough hands-on ground to carry out the disinfection exercise.

He said: “Earlier I told you that we have sat with the Ministry of Education and we have the list of all the schools that need to be disinfected before resumption.

“Well, what we plan to do now is to do (decontaminate) the centres that will be used.”

Speaking on why the process was delayed, the minister said it was intentional, as the plan was to ensure that the chemicals were effective enough when the schools resume.

“The delay is because it is better to disinfect and decontaminate within a short period of time, so that the kids will be going back into these classes when they have been freshly decontaminated.

“This is because the chemicals we use are chemicals that are not long lasting; they have short contact time to do their job.

“So, we will be getting this done before Monday when they (school children) will be back to use these classes,” he said.

He assured parents that the schools would be safe for learning activities.

“So, it is between Tuesday and the rest of the week. We have enough teams and people that we will be engaged to get that done.

“Be rest assured that your kids will be returning to a safe environment when they resume,” he said.

Mahmood stressed that the decontamination exercise would be done across the country.

FG Announces August 4 To September 5 As New WASSCE Dates

Meanwhile, the Federal Government (FG) has announced Tuesday, August 4 to Saturday, September 5 2020 as the dates for this year’s West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba announced this Monday, at a briefing by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in Abuja.

Nwajiuba urged parents and guardians to take note of the rescheduled dates.

The Minister also announced that interested candidates would be allowed to conclude online registration for the year’s NECO senior Secondary school examination.

Nwajiuba also informed that the Federal Ministry of Education would meet with the various Education stakeholders such as Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) Tuesday, to discuss the modalities on how the suspended final examination will be conducted.

The West African Examination Council (WAEC) has since suspended the conduct of WASSCE due to COVID-19 pandemic.