COVID-19: Parents told not to send children to schools

 

Olusegun Bamgbose, National Coordinator, Concerned Advocates for Good Governance, CAGG, has warned parents in the country against sending their children to school as the Federal Government insists on Monday, January 18, 2021, resumption date.

Bamgbose warned that the government’s insistence to reopen schools at this point when the number of COVID-19 cases is increasing on a daily basis is a very big risk.

According to him, the government may not cope with the situation in the long run.

Bamgbose had earlier warned the Federal Government of the possible danger of opening schools at this critical moment.

Also the House of Representative and the Medical Unions, comprising Nigerian Medical Assurance, NMA, National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives, NANNM, National Association of Resident Doctors, NARD and the Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria, AMLSN have recently warned the Federal Government to suspend the school resumption for now.

“Parents should be warned not to release their children to resume school for the meantime,” the senior lawyer said on Monday.

“It’s not advisable to take the risk not minding that the Federal Government has okayed resumption. The private schools owners must have pressured the Education Minister to reopen schools.

“It’s most likely also that they did PR to weaken the Ministry. No one should be against school reopening, but extreme caution should be taken.

“The tertiary students can resume, but I still insist that those in primary and secondary schools should stay at home for at least 4 weeks to monitor events.

“The House of Reps have equally lent their voice to it. I will want to warn parents to withhold their wards for now from resuming school today.

“Live has no duplicate. Caution is the keyword. Our medical personnel are yet to cope with cases they have at hand and we want to create more cases for them.

“The Government should not sacrifice the lives of our students on the altar of pressure from private school owners, who are more interested in making profit at the expense of the lives of the students and teachers.

“I believe it would be ideal and not out of place to possibly vaccinate our students before resumption. May the good Lord deliver us from this dreadful pandemic,” he said.