Ondo to shut schools over breach of COVID19 rules

Ondo State Government on Wednesday threatened to close-down any school in the State, that fails to uphold and enforce COVID-19 preventive protocols.

The State Chairman, Interministerial Committee on COVID-19, Professor Adesegun Fatusi and the Special Adviser to the Governor on Health, Hon. Jibayo Adeyeye said this during inspection of schools across the State.

Speaking during the exercise in Ondo and Akure cities, the Chairman who is also the Vice Chancellor, University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, decried low level of compliance to COVID-19 preventive guidelines in some schools.

He said some schools have no hand washing facilities, while students without nose masks were allowed into the school.

While commending the management of some schools where COVID-19 protocols are being observed, he urged the students to be COVID-19 Prevention Ambassadors in their homes and communities.

He urged them to encourage their parents to use nose masks, stressing that the State values every life.

The Chairman also implored school authorities where classes were overcrowded to promote physical distancing in classes, while calling on the Parents Teachers Association to join hands in the fight against the virus by monitoring students in their classes and ensure the COVID-19 prevention mechanism is sustainable in schools.

In the same vein, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Health and Acting Commissioner for Health in the State, Hon. Jibayo Adeyeye, noted that fragrant neglect of COVID-19 protocols among staff and students put schools at a very high risk of spreading Coronavirus within communities.

He stressed that if care is not taken students who contract the virus in school would spread it in their homes and other place of engagements.

He said the government will not hesitate to close down schools that are deviant to COVID-19 protocols in the interest of the community, adding that Government COVID-19 Inspectors will be dispatched to monitor compliance in schools.

Reacting, the Principal of St. Monica’s Grammar School, Ondo, Mrs. Adeola Akinseloyin, said teachers on a daily basis continue to remind the students that COVID-19 spreads easily even by those showing no symptoms, as such they must obey guidelines.

She said the State Government had earlier trained them on how to prevent the spread of the virus, upon resumption and it has in turn helped them to adequately train and educate the students on how they can make themselves safer during this period.

Some of the schools visited included St. Joseph’s College, Ondo, St. Monica’s Grammar School, Ondo, Oyemekun Grammar School, Akure, St. Louis Grammar School, Akure, and Aquinas College, Akure, among others.