The Kaduna State government has approved January 25 as resumption date for tertiary institutions across the state.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Phoebe Yayi, announced this in a statement issued in Kaduna on Sunday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that education stakeholders had, on Jan. 18, proposed January 21 or January 25 for school resumption, subject to the approval of the state government.
Heads of tertiary institutions had, at the meeting, expressed readiness to reopen January 25, if given the approval.
But, the Ministry of Health, on January 21, recommended the suspension of school resumption until readiness assessment for COVID1-19 was conducted.
Mrs Yaya explained that the approval came after assessing all tertiary institutions in the state to ensure their level of preparedness and plans for reopening.
She said the COVID-19 assessment team had confirmed full compliance with the state’s COVID-19 preventive protocols and for safe learning environment against the pandemic.
The permanent secretary, nonetheless, urged managements of all the tertiary institutions to ensure strict adherence to all the guidelines and protocols put in place by the state government.
She listed some of the guidelines to include compulsory wearing of face masks by students as well as staff members, both academic and non-academic, temperature checks and washing facilities, situated at strategic locations.
Others, according to her, are constant water supply or the use of hand sanitiser; avoiding overcrowding, both in class size and hostel occupancy, and the availability of functional health facilities for isolation of suspected cases.
“All the measures, which have been assessed and confirmed to be in place, must be sustained, as any lapse or bridge will lead to the closure of the erring institution without notice.
“Resumption by all tertiary institutions will be in phases, as provided by the institutions and according to their academic levels and subject to their compliance with the guidelines in place.
“Unscheduled monitoring visits to schools across the state will be conducted by the task force team to ensure continuous compliance with the COVID-19 guidelines,” she said.
Mrs Yaya added that assessment, based on COVID-19 guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health for public and private primary and secondary schools, was ongoing.
She said a decision would be announced once the assessment was concluded and recommendations approved.
The permanent secretary expressed the ministry’s appreciation for the support and cooperation of all stakeholders in ensuring the containment of the pandemic in the state.
(NAN)
