After a six-month closure as a precaution to curb the spread of COVID-19, the federal government yesterday approved the gradual reopening of educational institutions.
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It directed state governments and school administrators to start making preparations for the full reopening of schools and also reviewed the 10 pm -to-4am curfew to now start from 12 am to 4 am.
President Muhammadu Buhari has also approved the extension of the six-month mandate of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 (PTF), due to expire on September 17 till December 31.
The National Coordinator of the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19, Dr. Sani Aliyu, told reporters in Abuja that the task force recommended a phased return of students to classrooms.
He said: “For educational institutions, which include day-care, primary, secondary and tertiary institutions, educational institutions should begin the process of working towards potentially reopening within this phase.
“However, we strongly recommend that states conduct a risk assessment to ensure all schools are at a level of compliance and create a monitoring mechanism to assess, create and monitor this level of preparedness.
“Meanwhile, all day-cares and educational institutions are to remain closed to in-classes until this level of risk is assessed. And if there will be opening of schools, it must be staged and preferably carried out in phases to ensure that this does not pose a risk to the general public and in particular to vulnerable groups that might end up getting infected by students going back home.”