FG: Schools must create isolation spaces before reopening

The federal ministry of education has proposed that schools must create temporary isolation spaces and fully-equipped clinics before reopening.

The conditions are contained in a document entitled “Guidelines for Schools and Learning Facilities Reopening after COVID-19 Pandemic Closure”, submitted to the national assembly, a copy of which was obtained by The Nation on Wednesday.

In the document, Adamu Adamu, minister of education, states that the conditions are key strategies for implementing safe, efficient, and equitable plans for school reopening and operations.

“Given that COVID-19 may be with us for a while, the guidelines also highlight the urgent need to maintain and improve upon distance learning programmes,” the minister said.

He added that the guidelines were drafted in close coordination with health, environmental, education, and school safety experts who were tasked with the responsibility of charting a pathway for safely reopening schools and learning facilities for quality teaching and learning.

According to the document, each school is “required to create temporary isolation spaces and fully-equipped clinics before reopening”.

They are also mandated to “ensure establishment of a school COVID-19 referral system including protocols and procedures to take if learners, teachers, administrators and other education personnel become unwell while in schools.”

Other measures listed include to “establish and adequately equip dispensaries and clinics as appropriate; establish a referral system, including protocols and procedures to take if learners, teachers, administrators, and other education personnel become unwell while in schools.”

Proprietors are also required to construct additional structures and employ more teachers to ensure that they accommodate their students by adhering to the two-metre spacing system in classrooms.

They were also asked to seek “grants to procure soaps and buckets, ensure regular safe water supply, ensure a constant supply of learning and instructional materials, and pay salaries on time”.