The Commissioners of education in the Northern states of the federation have backed the federal government’s decision to backtrack on the planned re-opening of schools.
The minister of education, Adamu Adamu had announced on Wednesday that the schools under the control of federal government will not reopen until it is safe to do so.
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He also announced that no school would participate in the West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) earlier scheduled for August 5 to September 5.
At a meeting of the Northern commissioners of education in Kaduna, it was decided that apart from the concerns raised by the federal government, the financial implications of reopening schools in the region would be overwhelming.
“We just finished calculating for Bauchi State a few hours ago, N11.2b for partial opening of only final years in primary, junior and senior secondary schools, for just 3 months. For the general opening, we need N297billion for the first 3 months,” one of the commissioners told Daily Trust.
Opinions have been divided on whether schools should reopen as the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 had in May recommended that states be allowed to decide on the reopening of schools.
The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) and the Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (ALMSN) had warned against any plan to rush to reopen schools while the National Parent Teacher Association of Nigeria (NAPTAN) and the Nigeria Union of Teachers, NUT, said a critical appraisal of the situation must be done to arrive at a decision that would not lead to regret later.
