Lagos Unsure When Schools Will Reopen

By Ahmed Rahma

The Lagos State Ministry of Education has stated that the state government has not approved the reopening of the government and private-owned primary and secondary schools.

It was earlier rumoured that public and private primary and secondary schools in the state have been allowed to resume on Monday, January 4, 2021.

But the spokesman of the ministry, Mr Kayode Abayomi, refuted this, noting that the reopening of schools in the state would depend on how the second wave of COVID-19 goes.

It was gathered on Sunday that the recent developments concerning the second wave of the pandemic will delay the reopening of schools.

He said, “Please, recall that the Ministry of Education earlier announced January 4 as resumption date for the second term 2020/2021 academic session, but this has since been overtaken by the turn of events due to the recent waves of COVID-19 pandemic.

“As a result of the spike in Coronavirus pandemic, Mr Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu announced the indefinite closure of all schools.

“To this end, kindly be informed that a new date of resumption will be announced as soon as possible,” Mr Abayomi stated.

Recall that following a spike in COVID-19 cases, the federal government last month said all schools should be shut down till January 18 to know the trend the development was taking before deciding to reopen schools or not.

Last year, for six months, schools in Lagos were shut because of the virus. When it was not certain when physical teaching would occur again, the government allowed online teaching.