The decision was taken at a meeting the Minister of Education, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, held with commissioners of education of the states. In addition, the minister directed that all summer classes currently being conducted by some private schools across the country should be suspended until October 13, and asked state governments to sanction defaulting schools.
These steps, according to the minister, were meant to be part of the preventive measures to check the spread of the Ebola disease.
Malam Ibrahim Shekarau also urged state ministries of education to provide both public and private schools with blood pressure measuring equipment, which they should request for from the Federal Ministry of Education without delay.
In the same vein, all state ministries of education have been directed to organize workshops and ensure that at least two staff members in each school, pubic as well as private, are trained by appropriate health workers not later than September 15, 2014 on how to handle any suspected case of Ebola. All the preventive measures also apply in all Federal Government Colleges/Federal Government Girls Colleges in the country.
Although the mortality rate so far in Nigeria is relatively low compared to recorded casualties in a number of West African countries where the disease is most prevalent, the measures fashioned out by the Federal Ministry of Education at mobilizing the sector against any possible outbreak in schools through the extension of the vacation period are a prudent move.
Not unexpectedly, the government’s decision has attracted criticisms, particularly from proprietors of private schools. For instance, the Lagos State Chairman of the National Association of Private School Proprietors (NAPSP) Mr Yomi Otubela, claimed that the government’s decision was ‘not well thought out’.
His reaction appeared to be based more on possible loss of revenue than any consideration for safety. Most private schools, which in any case are profit-oriented, rely on revenue from school fees to settle staff salaries and maintain other services. Some of the schools may now have to look to other sources, at least in the interim, to pay salaries for the one-month extension period that the holidays will last.
The Ebola virus has quickly developed into a major public health emergency that requires the active vigilance of everyone, including proprietors of private schools, to check its spread. The disease is spread among humans through direct contact with infected body fluids. There is growing concern that the spread of the disease could be greater where there are large groups of people. The school environment could provide such setting for the spread of Ebola. The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that more than 2,600 people in West Africa have been infected with the virus since March this year. This week, the Organisation estimates that some 20,000 people could be stricken with Ebola before an effective control measure is found, although some countries, notably Liberia, have rejected such dire prognosis. More than 1,400 have already died.
Because Ebola is a deadly disease with up to 90 percent fatality rate, education officials and school authorities must be careful in the management of funds disbursed to them to procure blood pressure measuring kits and training of staff members on the monitoring of potential cases.
