TheCable

The federal government says it is considering morning and afternoon classes for reopening of schools across the country.

Speaking at the presidential task force briefing on Wednesday, Emeka Nwajiuba, minister of state for education, said the federal government is adopting caution before granting approval for reopening of schools.

He said the country may adopt a two-shift system of morning and afternoon classes in order to reduce population of students and the burden on infrastructure.

“Until we are sure these children can go to school, return safely and not bring up with them COVID-19 and infect people who are more susceptible than they are, then we are running a huge risk and God forbid, in our hurry, something happens to our children, I am not sure how anybody will be able to retrieve what has been lost,” he said.

“We are going to publish a specification on what we expect COVID-19 or post-COVID-19 reopening to look like. We are not talking about coping with COVID-19 but in spite of COVID-19, we expect that we will adapt.

“For a country that has over 115,000 primary schools, you will understand that 35,000 of these who are private must agree to set up the same standard in other to allow children to go in.

“We may have classes in the morning and classes in the afternoon so that we will have the whole of the infrastructure divided, provided they can serve us.

“I am not sure we will have classes at night. But we can do with morning and afternoon for now.”

Nwajiuba discredited reports that schools will be reopened June 8, he said the federal government will consult experts and the World Health Organisation (WHO) before taking a final decision on the reopening of schools.