Babalola Seyi
The House of Representatives has charged the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu to ensure that all public and private schools across the country are fumigated before they are re-open.
The chairman, House Committee on Basic Education, Professor Julius Ihonvbere, in a letter to the Education Minister, and made available to newsmen, on Sunday also urged him to mandate the management of public and private schools nationwide to sensitise their students on the dangers of COVID-19 and how they can protect themselves from being infected.
Ihonvbere stressed the need for an urgent review of the school curriculum in line with current challenges, so as to strengthen sections of Science, Health Science and Social Studies subjects to incorporate good knowledge of infectious diseases.
“We want to further direct the management of Schools to make provision for water/borehole with a view to promoting washing of hands and personal hygiene among the pupils. Clear instruction should be issued to schools to avoid all contact sports till further notice. For the time being all social/extra curricular events should be suspended. They
should include excursions, birthday celebrations etc.
“Disinfection of shoes and feet should be strongly encouraged for each classroom as done in poultry pens with appropriate non- corrosive solution.
Emphasis should be placed on the minimum number of pupils/students in a class in strict adherence to social distancing procedure/ prescriptions, procurement of Infrared Thermometers, face masks and hand sanitizers for pupils and teachers use before entering school,” he stated.