The Minister of State for Education during a PTF briefing on Covid-19 with private tertiary institutions representatives on Thursday listed the reasons University has remain shut till today, and he spoke on the major concerns of the government in the reopening of schools
Mr Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba reiterated the Federal Government’s stance of school closure due to the increasing Covid-19 cases Nationwide. He told representatives of several private institutions that it would not be wise to reopen school when the presidential task force (PTF) are yet to give a nod to the safe reopening of schools, and that the government would want the cases of Coronavirus in the country to reduce before resumption of students to ensure the safety of students.
During the PTF briefing, the representatives of Private institutions reminded him that the government allowed the reopening of markets which has more population than schools, he acknowledged that fact but still insisted on waiting for a clean bill report from the Presidential task force on Covid-19 before resumption of full academic activities.
In his words,”Today I met with the owners of private tertiary institutions in the country and during the meeting, they demanded that the schools be reopened since the Federal Government has approved reopening of markets that have more population than schools in the country. And I told them that it was true that markets have more population than schools in the country but I made them understand that it will be unwise to reopen schools when we have not received a clean bill from the presidential task force that the community transmission of the virus has been subsided and cases in the country has reduced.”
The Minister also spoke on the ongoing Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike as another challenge to the reopening of tertiary institutions. The strike commenced before the Federal government announced the closure of schools on March and the FG are yet to reach an agreement with the striking union.
