FG to inspect unity schools ahead of Tuesday’s re-opening

The Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba, said on Monday a Federal Government delegation would embark on an assessment tour of the 104 Unity Schools in the country.

The federal government had last week directed the reopening of schools across the country from August 4 to enable students in exit classes to prepare for their examinations.

The West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) begins on August 17.

The minister, who would lead the tour, said the exercise is aimed at assessing the colleges’ preparedness for the resumption of academic activities.

Nwajiuba, according to a statement issued by the Director of Press and Public Relations in the Federal Ministry of Education, Ben Bem Goong, stated this during a virtual meeting with the commissioners of the education from the 36 states of the federation.

He will be joined on the assessment tour of the unity schools by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Sonny Echono, and a few other directors.

The statement reads: “Ahead of August 4 2020, the Minister of State for Education, Hon. Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba has announced that all the 104 Unity Colleges are ready to open their gates to exit classes tomorrow.

“Announcing the preparedness of the Unity Colleges at a meeting with Honourable Commissioners of Education of the 36 states of the federation this (Monday) morning via the Zoom platform, the minister lauded principals of unity colleges for the comprehensive preparation put in place for resumption.

“Across states, Honourable Commissioners reported varying degrees of preparation and readiness for reopening between August 4 and 10 for virtually all schools within their jurisdictions.

“From today (Monday), the Honourable Minister of State for Education, Permanent Secretary and Directors will embark on an assessment tour of all Unity Colleges to ascertain and confirm the reports they have received from the Principals of Unity Colleges.

“Similarly, Federal Education Quality Assurance Directors deployed to the states have been directed to monitor compliance in their respective states. Honourable Commissioners from the states were enjoined to embark on assessment tours in their jurisdictions to ascertain the level of preparations for reopening.

“While most schools will reopen tomorrow (Tuesday), others will continue to fine-tune their preparations in the coming days for reopening. Education Minister, Hon. Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, is asking all schools to communicate their specific reopening dates to their parents and students in order to avoid chaos in the system.

“All returning students are to undergo temperature checks among other protocols before being admitted into their schools.”