PARENTS and school children anxious for reopening schools will
have to wait a little more as the Federal Government on Monday
insisted that the schools remain shut for now.
Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, speaking
on Monday at the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 news briefing
described as fake news timetables purported released from the
Ministry of Education on the conduct of West African Examination
Council examinations being circulated on the social media.
He maintained that only the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19
could approve the reopening of schools following expert advice on
the safety of schools for the children, adding that government was
not prepared to experiment with the lives of Nigerian children.
He said the Federal Ministry of Education does not have the
prerogative to unilaterally direct reopening of school with the
spike in confirmed cases of coronavirus across the country.
The minister further disclosed until the ban on interstate
movement is lifted, it would be incongruous to reopen schools when
teachers and students could not move freely to their schools.
Nwajiuba said: “The long answer is that the ministry would not
want to lead Nigerians into danger, so we are working with experts
and that is the essence of us being in this committee in the first
place.
“We want to be only able to reopen when it is safe to do so. You
heard about neighbouring countries that opened and shut; you heard
about cases spiking with children getting into school.
“Of all the things, I would like to do, I would not like to
experiment with your children. The truth is that we want a
situation where once we are sure it is safe, we can then take them
into schools,” he said.
The minister disclosed that he had a meeting on Monday with
representatives of West African Examination Council (WAEC),
National Examination Council (NECO) and National Business and
Technical Examination Board (NABTEB) to brainstorm on how to
conduct their pending examinations.
He said: “I just finished a meeting this morning with the
representatives of WAEC, NECO, and NABTEB. I understand the worries
of our parents at the moment and how anxious our children are to
know what next.
“What we are planning is to actually bring those exit years in
first. As soon as those who are in charge of the blockade lift it;
because there is no way we can open our schools if teachers can’t
come.
“We are looking at somewhere after this interstate lockdown is
lifted because we need to have that kind of openness for children
to move.
“We looked at letters from WAEC Ghana, WAEC. The Gambia reopened
schools today (Monday), and all of these people are participants in
WAEC platform. The five countries of WAEC have almost about 76
subjects. Nigerians are taking about 17 of them, so we need to know
the timetable that will take about six weeks to conclude WAEC
exams.
“It requires another six weeks to conclude NECO and another six
weeks to conclude NABTEB examinations.
“Right now, we are all working on timetables, how to bring the
timetables closer. What is permissible, what can we do, can we use
Saturdays, can we use Sundays, what dates are available to us as
soon as we can to bring them to some sort of closer.”
He added that the government was also planning when to conduct
the National Common Entrance Examination to get those in primary
schools to move into secondary schools.
The minister said government is also working on all available
options, saying it would not be possible for anybody to just
release date for reopening of schools carelessly.
Nwajiuba clarified that any date to be announced by the Ministry
of Education must pass through the Presidential Task Force on
COVID-19 first, stressing that it would not just be that the
Ministry of Education “unilaterally commanded everybody to go back
to school.
“We are running a government. It is not our prerogative to
simply tell you what to do. We will bring you to government and
government will do an appreciation on it.
“Last week, we were in the National Assembly and presented the
same facts to the House Committee on Basic Education, and went each
of the issues with them-questions from parents, questions from
everybody who is a participant in education,” he said.
He stressed that it would require experts telling the government
that children could not resume schools in safety, appealing to
parents to continue to keep the children safe at home in the
meantime.
PARENTS and school children anxious for reopening schools will
have to wait a little more as the Federal Government on Monday
insisted that the schools remain shut for now.
Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, speaking
on Monday at the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 news briefing
described as fake news timetables purported released from the
Ministry of Education on the conduct of West African Examination
Council examinations being circulated on the social media.
He maintained that only the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19
could approve the reopening of schools following expert advice on
the safety of schools for the children, adding that government was
not prepared to experiment with the lives of Nigerian children.
He said the Federal Ministry of Education does not have the
prerogative to unilaterally direct reopening of school with the
spike in confirmed cases of coronavirus across the country.
The minister further disclosed until the ban on interstate
movement is lifted, it would be incongruous to reopen schools when
teachers and students could not move freely to their schools.
Nwajiuba said: “The long answer is that the ministry would not
want to lead Nigerians into danger, so we are working with experts
and that is the essence of us being in this committee in the first
place.
“We want to be only able to reopen when it is safe to do so. You
heard about neighbouring countries that opened and shut; you heard
about cases spiking with children getting into school.
“Of all the things, I would like to do, I would not like to
experiment with your children. The truth is that we want a
situation where once we are sure it is safe, we can then take them
into schools,” he said.
The minister disclosed that he had a meeting on Monday with
representatives of West African Examination Council (WAEC),
National Examination Council (NECO) and National Business and
Technical Examination Board (NABTEB) to brainstorm on how to
conduct their pending examinations.
He said: “I just finished a meeting this morning with the
representatives of WAEC, NECO, and NABTEB. I understand the worries
of our parents at the moment and how anxious our children are to
know what next.
“What we are planning is to actually bring those exit years in
first. As soon as those who are in charge of the blockade lift it;
because there is no way we can open our schools if teachers can’t
come.
“We are looking at somewhere after this interstate lockdown is
lifted because we need to have that kind of openness for children
to move.
“We looked at letters from WAEC Ghana, WAEC. The Gambia reopened
schools today (Monday), and all of these people are participants in
WAEC platform. The five countries of WAEC have almost about 76
subjects. Nigerians are taking about 17 of them, so we need to know
the timetable that will take about six weeks to conclude WAEC
exams.
“It requires another six weeks to conclude NECO and another six
weeks to conclude NABTEB examinations.
“Right now, we are all working on timetables, how to bring the
timetables closer. What is permissible, what can we do, can we use
Saturdays, can we use Sundays, what dates are available to us as
soon as we can to bring them to some sort of closer.”
He added that the government was also planning when to conduct
the National Common Entrance Examination to get those in primary
schools to move into secondary schools.
The minister said government is also working on all available
options, saying it would not be possible for anybody to just
release date for reopening of schools carelessly.
Nwajiuba clarified that any date to be announced by the Ministry
of Education must pass through the Presidential Task Force on
COVID-19 first, stressing that it would not just be that the
Ministry of Education “unilaterally commanded everybody to go back
to school.
“We are running a government. It is not our prerogative to
simply tell you what to do. We will bring you to government and
government will do an appreciation on it.
“Last week, we were in the National Assembly and presented the
same facts to the House Committee on Basic Education, and went each
of the issues with them-questions from parents, questions from
everybody who is a participant in education,” he said.
He stressed that it would require experts telling the government
that children could not resume schools in safety, appealing to
parents to continue to keep the children safe at home in the
meantime.