A former minister of youth and sports development, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, on Wednesday, urged the Kwara state government to reopen schools in order not to endanger the future of students.
Recall that in March, the government, through the Ministry of Education, ordered an indefinite closure of all schools across the state to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease.
“Our global reality today is COVID-19 and It is possible that we will live with it for a very long time. But the education of our children cannot wait forever. Every single day they are not in school, their mental development is threatened. They have been out for several months now. We cannot afford to keep them away any longer if we do not want to create a COVID generation who have grown up with a massive gap in their mental capacity.
“I go around Ilorin and it appears to me that the people have resumed their normal lives. The markets are all open, the religious centres and even some ceremonies are being held. What then is the justification to continue to keep the children at home?
“I want to believe that by now the government has developed the necessary safety protocols for schools. I also want to assume that teachers and school managers have been trained on these measures ahead of school resumption. If these are not happening, then they should have happened yesterday. This is an adaptive challenge. We must have a timeline that is known to everyone, and which all stakeholders must be working towards. This radio silence is not good for the system,” Abdullahi’s statement reads in part.
Abdullahi asked the state government to consider introducing “remedial programmes” for students upon resumption.
He further said stakeholders, including owners of private schools, should meet immediately to agree on how to make up the lost academic time.