Minister of State for Education, Hon. Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, says there are no plans to reopen schools at the moment despite the gradual relaxation of measures put in place to guard against the spread of coronavirus.
The minister said any plan to open schools in the country would be halted until adequate safety measures are put in place in the learning environment.
“Schools cannot reopen until there is guarantee that students and staff would be safe from coronavirus infection,” Nwajiuba said in a post on his social media (Facebook) page at the weekend.
The minister, who is a member of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, on Thursday had a meeting with the two ministers in charge of the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology on how best to reopen schools without exposing students and school workers to the virus.
“Today, I had an inter ministerial discussion with my colleagues, Chief Ogbonnaya Onu (Honourable Minister of Science and Technology), and Mohammed Abdullahi (Minister of State, Science and Technology) on setting up protocols to enable us reopen schools without endangering the lives of our children, the future of this nation.
“It is our belief that in no distant time, these children will return to their classrooms and back to learning,” the minister said after the meeting in Abuja.
The AUTHORITY reports that the Federal Government through the Ministry of Education had recently disowned reports making rounds on multiple social media platforms insinuating that schools will reopen in November 2020.
