By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Public and private primary and secondary schools in Bayelsa State will reopen on Monday, October 5, 2020, for third term, the state government has announced.
Governor of the state, Mr Douye Diri, announced this when he received the Committee on Safe Re-Opening of Schools at the Government House, Yenagoa, on Monday.
The education sector was shut down some months ago as part of efforts to control the spread of the global health pandemic, coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
But lately, the virus has been brought under considerable control, leading to the gradual reopening of the sectors shut down some months ago by the government.
The Commissioner for Information, Orientation and Strategy, Mr Ayibaina Duba, while addressing newsmen yesterday, explained that the government decided that resuming for the third term would redeem the time lost by the students as a result of the pandemic.
“The third term and session would terminate on December 18, 2020, and a new academic session would commence in January 2021,” he said.
Mr Duba also said the “government has directed the committee to close down private schools operating below government-approved standards.”
“This directive is strictly to protect students from learning under unhygienic environment, where they might be exposed to COVID-19 and other infections,” he explained.
“What we have done is to ensure that the lost time is regained. Therefore, the government of Bayelsa State under the leadership of Senator Douye Diri has decided with all the critical stakeholders that all schools, both public and private and all tertiary institutions, should resume for classes from October 5, 2020.
“It has also come to the notice of the government that many private schools are not up to standard and the governor directed the Ministry of Education to shut down such schools,” he further said.