The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Monday urged the Federal Government not to reopen schools yet due to the COVID-19 pandemic currently ravaging the country.
The ASUU president, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, who made the call in a chat with journalists in Ota, Ogun State, charged the federal government to address the challenges in the education sector before thinking of reopening the schools.
He also implored the government to first meet the conditions spelt out by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) before reopening schools.
The ASUU president said: “The federal government must lead and show the ways by meeting the conditions for reopening of schools before any school can be allowed to open, because COVID-19 pandemic is a health challenge.
“When it comes to public health, it is something that should not be left in the hands of individuals, but the federal government must take the lead”.
He listed the conditions spelt out by NCDC to include provision of materials for regular washing of hands, face mask, isolations centres, space for social distancing and hands sanitiser.
Ogunyemi added that many of the schools do not have financial capacities to meet those conditions and requirements for reopening of schools.
He added: “It is suicidal to reopen schools now, if the federal government itself could not meet the conditions spelt out by NCDC and World Health Organisation (WHO).
“The nation will expose the innocent children to avoidable risks.”
The federal government had in March ordered the closure of schools across Nigeria in a bid to check the spread of covid 19 in the country.
However, the government had started consultations with stakeholders in the sector on the modalities for the reopening of learning facilities across the country.
