According to a proposal sent to the national assembly by the federal ministry of education, schools must create temporary isolation spaces and fully-equipped clinics before resumption.
Education minister, Adamu Adamu, opined 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.
“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”
Schools in Nigeria have been under lock and key since March this year in the wake of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
