Nine months after they were shut down due to the deadly Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), schools in Sierra Leone have now been reopened.
On Tuesday, thousands of children trooped to school with enthusiasm and joy to learn, but mainly to see their “long lost” friends, whom many of them last saw in nearly a year ago.
In July 2014, the governments of Liberia and Sierra Leone declared states of emergency, ordering the closure of schools and markets and the quarantining of affected communities in a desperate attempt to halt the epidemic.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) confirmed the reopening, saying it marks “a major step in the normalisation of life” within the country.
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About 1.8 million school children have had to stay home for nine months, with a number of them taking lessons from classes transmitted via Radio broadcast with little or no interactive platform.
The first day at school was basically dedicated to Ebola education, to ensure the pupils are used to basic hygiene rules that would help prevent another possible outbreak.
UNICEF has trained 9,000 teachers in Ebola prevention, supplying hand-washing facilities to every school within the country.
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Since May 2014, Sierra Leone has recorded more than 12,000 cases of Ebola with at least 3,831 deaths.
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