The Lagos State government has reiterated that all private and public schools in the state will remain closed until further notice, to protect pupils from the scourge of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The state maintained that rather than re-open schools and endanger the lives of students, it will intensify ongoing free teachings on various media, especially radio and television.
Disclosing the state government’s stance on the re-ooening of schools for the third term academic activities, the state Commissioner for Education, Mrs.Folasade Adefisayo, urged proprietors of private schools aiming to commence academic session for third term amid the COVID-19 pandemic to oerish the thoughts.d
Adefisayo said, “The Ministry of Education wishes to state categorically that all schools in Lagos State remain closed and have not yet been opened for the third term. The state continues to offer free teachings on various media, especially radio and television.”
Assuring of the state’s determination to continue to improve its distance learning programmes, Mrs Adefisayo expressed satisfaction that students across private and public schools are taking advantage of the free service.
She said, “Plans are also underway to ensure that our children in public schools are able to complete their term whenever the lockdown is lifted.”
She noted that the state government is aware of the challenges of staff wages and other issues confronting private school owners during the lockdown, even as she appealed to the proprietors to persevere and adopt the online teaching strategy to keep their students busy while staying at home to avoid contracting Coronavirus.
The commissioner disclosed that some secondary schools in the state have commenced online teaching to engage their students charging discounted tuition fees, while some schools were charging full tuition rates.
She added, “Parents are concerned about the cost of this programme, ranging from fees charged by schools to the cost of data and devices as well as the cost of fuelling generators to ensure steady electricity power supply.
“Parents also have to supervise online teachings to guard against the exposure of children to pornography, in addition to online harassment and bullying.”
While calling for continuous dialogue between private school administrators and parents to seek ways to resolve issues related to the inability of parents to earn income during this period, the need for schools to pay their personnel who provide online teaching as well as the purchase of devices for teachers, including the provision of data to prepare for the daily teaching activities, Mrs Adefisayo said, “In view of the aforementioned, we ask that schools consult extensively with parents and find a win-win solution that will be acceptable to all stakeholders.”
