House of Reps Refutes January 18 Resumption Date, Says to Postpone By Three Months.
The House of Representatives has refuted the reopening of schools slated for Monday, January 18, citing a surge in COVID-19 cases.
The chairman of the House committee on basic education, Mr. Julius Ihonvbere, in a statement made available to newsmen, said the reopening of schools across the nation will pose a great threat to the fight against the second wave of COVID-19.
Ihonvbere said that the federal government did not seek the opinion of the committee before making the decision to go ahead with the slated date for reopening of school, adding that the resumption date is postponed by three months.
He also bemoaned that there are no “verifiable and sustainable arrangements to protect and secure the students during the pandemic.”
“We are particularly concerned that when the infection rates hovered around 500 and under, schools were closed; but now that it hovers well above 1,000 infections daily, schools are being reopened.”
“Why are we rushing to reopen schools without adequate verifiable and sustainable arrangements to protect and secure our children?
“They did not consult us; at least in my committee, nobody from the ministry spoke to me. I have been in Abuja. And I am not sure that they spoke to any of my members.”
Recall that earlier, The Federal Minister for Education, Adamu Adamu said the January 18 resumption date will be reviewed, due to a surge in the cases of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the Minister has issued a go-ahead for schools to resume on Monday the 18th of January.
