The Federal Government has extended the resumption date for all public and private primary and secondary schools in the country to October 13.
Ibrahim Shekara
Minister of Education, Ibrahim Shekarau, disclosed this on Tuesday, August 26 in Abuja while briefing newsmen on the outcome of a meeting he held with Commissioners for Education of all 36 states and the FCT in Abuja.
“The minister and all commissioners met today, Aug. 26, to discuss issues related to the reopening of schools for the new academic year vis-à-vis the Ebola epidemic issue.
“At the end of the meeting, the following decisions were arrived at as preventive measures to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all students in our schools throughout the federation.
“All primary and secondary schools both public and private are to remain closed until Monday, Oct. 13, 2014, which is the new resumption date for all schools throughout the federation.
“This is to ensure that adequate measures are put in place before the students report back to school,” he said.
He also made it known that the meeting also agreed that all Ministries of Education should immediately organise training for at least two staff in each public and private school, adding that the said schools must ensure that training is applied by appropriate health personnel on how to handle any suspected case of Ebola Virus Disease, EVD.
The minister also directed all the state ministries to establish a Working and Monitoring Team and also appoint a designated Desk Officer on Ebola.
As part of the measures, he said the immediate suspension of ongoing summer classes conducted by some private schools has become imperative, as according to him, all private primary and secondary schools must comply with the directives, which also apply to Federal Government Colleges.