‘We are not going to risk lives of our children’ – Anambra government rebuffs calls by teachers to reopen schools amid COVID-19 Pandemic

Anambra state government has warned teachers in the state to focus on online education as it won’t risk the lives of children and students by reopening schools during the Coronavirus pandemic that has infected over 10,000 people in Nigeria.

According to the Anambra Commissioner for Basic Education, Prof. Kate Omenugha, the decision not to open schools came from the Federal Government, so teachers should stop pressuring the state government to reopen schools as that won’t happen until the Federal Government gave such directives.

“Government knows what it is doing. So, we are not going to reopen the schools and risk lives of our children to COVID-19 pandemic because some teachers are calling on us to resume.”  Omenugha said to reporters in her office at the Jerome Udoji Secretariat, Awka.

“I thank the governor, who has supported us since April 1, when we commenced the `teaching on-air-programme’.

“When schools were shut down on March 24 because of Coronavirus pandemic, we decided to engage school children in something meaningful instead of leaving them to idle away.

“Second week into the programme, we opened the lines for students to call in, so that we can get feedbacks because it’s being streamed live on Facebook and also on YouTube,” Omenugha said.