Metro
Reopening of schools without adherence to COVID-19 protocols dangerous —ASUU
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Ibadan Chapter, on Sunday warned against the reopening of schools without ensuring compliance with COVID-19 guidelines.
The union said the lives of teachers and students were more important than pecuniary gains.
The Chairman of ASUU in the institution, Prof. Ayo Akinwole, who disclosed this in a statement in Ibadan, said negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on schools could be enormous if responsibility was not taken to ensure the safety of teachers and students.
He noted that before the COVID-19 pandemic, public universities were overcrowded with students and hostel facilities took more than its capacity.
The varsity don warned parents not to jubilate at the news of a possible reopening of schools.
Akinwole said: “What we are simply saying is that the Federal Government should adhere to its own set of guidelines.
“Our position, as a responsible union in all these is that; throwing schools open in the midst of all these, is an open invitation to the tragic explosion of the COVID-19 scourge on a scale never witnessed anywhere since its outbreak.”
READ ALSO: Nigerian govt okays full reopening of schools
He said the union was aware that there had been agitations from some quarters for the government to reopen schools.
The ASUU official alleged that the people leading the campaign for reopening of schools are the proprietors of private universities.
He added: “ASUU is not in any way opposed to this call.
“However, Nigerians should honestly interrogate this position. Has the Nigerian government met the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) criteria on COVID–19 protocols in our institutions?
“COVID-19 pandemic is still very much with us. It is in recognition of this fact that the government itself has rolled out certain conditions to be met before schools are reopened.”
Join the conversation
Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism
Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.
As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.
If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.
Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.
INVESTIGATION: In Kwara, multimillion-naira milk processing plant is abandoned, converted to a chicken outlet
After the government spent millions of naira to establish a milk processing plant in Kwara State that would provided jobs...
SPECIAL REPORT: For Sokoto communities, promise of healthcare is akin to death sentence
In this story, ABDULRASHEED HAMMAD delves into the dire realities of Primary Health Care services in Sokoto State, shedding light...
ICYMI…SPECIAL REPORT: NNPCL hides behind PIA to frustrate disclosure, accountability
Nigeria’s major oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), in what appears to be a common practice of disregard...
INVESTIGATION: Multi-million naira Ekiti resort center remains uncompleted a decade after
The multimillion-naira project, expected to comprise recreational buildings, now consists of cassava farmland, a bush used for excretion, and a...
SPECIAL REPORT: Torturous experiences of students with disabilities in Oyo tertiary institutions
For students with disabilities in Oyo state-owned tertiary institutions, learning is a torturous and distressing experience, considering the building structures...