23rd September, 2014
The Kwara State Government on Monday vowed to close down any school which violates the directive postponing the resumption of schools in the state.
Alhaji Saka Onimago, the Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, gave the warning in an interview with NAN in llorin.
He said the state government was still putting the necessary measures in place to prevent an outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease in the disease.
The commissioner added that arrangement had been perfected to train teachers on preventive measures. “No school should resume until preventive measure is put in place to tackle the Ebola disease,” Onimago said.
He said two teachers had been selected from all public and private schools in all the 16 local government areas of the state for the preventive training on Ebola virus.
A NAN correspondent, who went round Ilorin metropolis, reports that all schools remained shut.
In Osogbo, the Osun capital, all schools will remain shut until 6 October, the state government has said.
Mr Oyelade Oyeniran, the Permanent Secretary in the State Ministry of Education, told NAN that the resumption date was “authentic and irreversible.”
“Presently we are about to take the delivery of thermometers and other equipment that will be distributed to all schools to check the temperature of students as they come into the schools.
“The government in Osun is working assiduously to guard against any unpleasant situation, most especially on the issue of the outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease in the country.
“It was for this germane reason that the government postponed the resumption date for all schools to Oct. 6 to have needed preventive measures on ground.
“As we all know that the children are more vulnerable than the adults in terms of their care-free attitude and innocent disposition to sensitive issues, there is need for proper planning for their protection,” he said.
On the level of compliance by owners of some private schools, Oyeniran said the directive was binding on all schools in the state.
Oyeniran also said the government had a meeting with the National Association of Private Schools in the state immediately after the meeting it had with the Federal Government in Abuja.
“There is no way any private school in the state can flout this directive after briefing them on the outcome of the Abuja meeting and the next line of action by the state government.
“Any private school that fails to comply with the directive will have the school closed.