School and academic activities will resume in Cross River despite the position the federal government takes on this owing to the rising wave of the Covid-19 spreading across major communities in Nigeria.
According to the state government on Wednesday, a “trial resumption of schools” would commence on June 16.
The state’s commissioner for Education, Godwin Amanke, in a statement, explained how students will wear face masks and face shields to their school gates first , and then wash their hands and legs and then use sanitisers before heading for class.
“When the children enter their classrooms, they will remove their face masks and use only their face shields so as to get enough ventilation.
“Upon closure, they will put on their masks and go back home. Teachers will wear the same and observe coronavirus protocols in the classrooms.”
Gov. Ben Ayade, has said personal protective equipment is already being mass produced at the state-owned garment factory for distribution to the students.
“For Cross River State, we have a strong commitment that our children cannot continue to stay at home,” he said.
“The more they stay, the more the moral decadence, the more indiscipline, the more they become lazy of getting back to school and getting started because for every stage in life, there is a time where you have to be in class and once the children miss that delicate phase, it becomes very difficult.”
He cited the Chinese experience where kids are back to schools with their nosemasks and shields.
The federal government has insisted schools will reopen only after state governments’ lift the ban on interstate travels.
All schools and academic institution have been on lockdown since the war on Covid-19 began in March.