Exactly two weeks private and public schools re-opened in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), after seven months they were shutdown due to the ourbreak of COVID-19, no school has been sanctioned for violation of the COVID-19 protocols in the capital territory.
BusinessDay recalled that on October 8, 2020, the FCT Administration reeled out some guidelines on schools re-opening and threatened that any school that failed to comply would be sanctioned or even shutdown.
These guidelines include: compulsory fumigation of all public schools in FCT; clearing of grasses; provision of sanitizers, soap, buckets and thermometers for each schools to be placed at strategic places within the schools for students and staff.
Others are: provision of sick bay in every school where students with high temperature would be kept under the supervision of a health personnel; students with underlying medical conditions should report with a medical report; observe bed spacing of two metres and suspension of school bus services for now and where parents insist, school must ensure adequate social distancing in the bus.
A resumption committee that would be going round the schools to endure strict compliance to the COVID-19 protocols was setup.
BusinessDay spoke to Fatima Abdulrahman, the chairperson of the FCT school resumption committee, who said though no school had been sanctioned for violation, the sanctions still stand.
Abdulrahman pointed out that all the schools they had gone so far complied with the guidelines.
She said her committee had gone to Government Secondary School, Area 10; Government Secondary School, Jabi; Government Secondary School, Gwarimpa; Government Day Secondary School, Karu; Government Secondary School, Life Camp; Junior Secondary School, Zuba and Government Secondary School, Kuje.
The chairperson, therefore, called on all FCT residents to avail them of information regarding any school that does not comply with the guidelines and assured that such school would be sanctioned.
On the resumption date, BusinessDay visited some of the schools in Kubwa, Wuse and Garki and most of the schools complied with the safety measures.
At the JSS Kubwa Il, there was a bucket of running water, hand sanitizer and thermometer used to check the temperature of the students.
The Principal of the School, Chinyelu Okafor, told BusinessDay that they would adhere to the safety guidelines so as not to compromise the health of the students.
Okafor said as part of the safety measures, the JSS I students would be allowed to attend classes in the morning, while JSS 2 students would attend classes in the afternoon to maintain social distance.
She hinted that the population of the students was over 1500, adding that there was no way they could maintain social distance without dividing them into morning and afternoon sessions.
