By Musa Ibrahim
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Muhammad Bello, has ordered all schools in Abuja to resume academic activities for the first term of the 2020/2021 academic session on October 12.
The minister also said all boarding students are expected to resume on Sunday, October 11.
In a statement on Thursday night which was signed by the spokesperson of the minister, Anthony Ogunleye, Bello said the guidelines for the reopening of the schools will soon be released.
He said the FCT did not record any case of COVID-19 during the reopening of schools for exit classes.
He urged officials and pupils to comply with COVID-19 protocols once the schools reopen.
He said the decision to reopen schools had been probably one of the most painstaking decisions that the FCT administration had to take as a team.
In the opening of schools, we have to be very careful and conscious of the need to ensure that all the efforts of all of us during the last few months are not in vain.
Based on the reality on ground as well as the inputs and advice of medical personnel and the guidelines of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 (PTF) and releases from the Federal Ministry of Education.
We have come to the conclusion that it is relatively safe for us to open up schools in the FCT base on certain guidelines and conditions which will be released shortly, he said.
He noted that the gathering of young people and children within an enclosed environment posed very peculiar challenges that require handling with utmost care, particularly by the schools and education administrators.
Bello enjoined parents, guardians and stakeholders to complement the efforts of the FCT administration by further sensitising their people and wards on the need to adhere strictly to health guidelines.
He warned that the virus had not been eliminated and it was still a deadly disease, saying now is therefore not the time for us to be complaisant.
The Chairman FCT Schools Resumption Committee, Dr Fatima Abdulrahman, who read the guidelines for the post-COVID-19 school resumption, disclosed that there would not be third term.
Abdulrahman directed schools to conduct revision and examination to tidy up and end second term within two weeks.
She warned private schools against demanding for third term fees, adding that maximum class size should be 25 students per class.
She said that the FCT administration has suspended all activities that encourage crowding and clustering in schools.
Abdulrahman said that every school should have a sick bay where students with high temperature would be kept under the supervision of health personnel until their parents come for them.
She warned that any school that does not comply with the guidelines and an outbreak occurs in the school due to negligence, risk closure.
