Lagos shifts resumption of schools to October 8

The Lagos State Government on Sunday postponed the resumption of schools to October 8, 2014, in apparent response to pressure from the National Union of Teachers (NUT), which has restrained its members from resuming on Monday (today).
Following the outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in Nigeria in July, the Federal Government had directed that schools would not resume from their long vacations until October 13(one additional month).
But after the EVD was effectively contained, the government changed its mind and directed that schools should resume on September 22 (today).
While some states are ready to resume as directed, some others said that they were yet to be set for the resumption as they were yet to procure preventive equipment.
Besides, the NUT has stuck to its gun insisting that its members are not going back to the classrooms because they do not have equipment to contain the deadly EVD.
The Lagos government, which was set for the resumption on Monday (today), was however swayed an interactive session with principals, vice principals, head teachers and assistant head teachers of public secondary and primary schools in the state.
Governor Babatunde Fashola, who announced the shift in date (to October 08), in Lagos at the interactive session noted that the additional two weeks of holiday would allow the state government to further put in place all necessary precautionary measures against the EVD in the state schools.
While commending the concern, commitment and dedication of Lagos teachers to their work and concern against the spread of the EVD, the governor explained that there were no sides to the issue of containing the spread of the virus in state as both the government and the teachers were on the same side.
“Let me assure you that there are no divisions or sides to the issue at hand. All of us i. e. government and you teachers are on the same side, the side of safety and that is why I commend you for your concern for safety. The biggest fear I have every day is that nothing must happen to anyone of you.”
The governor, however, stressed the need for everyone to rededicate themselves to good personal and environmental hygiene particularly hand washing techniques as acts could help to eradicate the virus.
According to him, all public schools in the state would be connected to the Lagos State Water Corporation in order to ensure that they have potable water and that each floor of a public school has a hand-washing bucket in order to ensure effective hand-washing among the students and pupils of public schools.
Before this development, medical doctors under the aegis of the Association of Public Health Physicians of Nigeria (APHPN) had signed off on the September 22 resumption date.
They dismissed the fear of possible EVD in schools, saying the provision of necessary infrastructure should start now but should not prevent the resumption of schools.
The National Chairman, Prof. Tanimola M. Akande, and National General Secretary, Dr. Sunday A. Aderibigbe, APHPN, in a statement, expressed unqualified support for the government position to reopen schools from Monday (today).
The urged various levels of government to put in place measures to prevent any new case of Ebola in the country in and out of schools.
The Rainbow findings indicate that while the private schools were ready to resume the new academic session, teachers in public schools want their holidays extended further.
Nearly six months after the first case of Ebola in West Africa was reported to the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN General Assembly and the Security Council have approved resolutions creating the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) to contain the ongoing outbreak, which has sickened more than 5,500 people and killed over 2,500.
WHO Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan, said to the UN Security Council: “This is not just a public health crisis. This is a social crisis, a humanitarian crisis, an economic crisis and a threat to national security well beyond the outbreak zones. For these reasons, Mr. Secretary-General and I are calling for a UN-wide initiative that draws together all the assets of all relevant UN agencies.”
This is the first time in history that the UN has created a mission for a public health emergency. The mission will bring together the vast resources of the UN agencies, funds and programmes, to reinforce WHO’s technical expertise and experience in disease outbreaks.
While WHO plays a central role in leading the public health efforts for this response, the support of other UN agencies is essential to deal with the social, economic, development and security challenges that are affecting these countries and the region.
UN Secretary General’s Senior Coordinator for the Ebola Response, Dr David Nabarro, said: “This unprecedented outbreak requires an unprecedented response. The number of cases has doubled in these countries in the last three weeks. To get in front off this, the response must be increased 20-fold from where it is today.”
The mission will immediately begin to bring together the assets from the relevant agencies. The hub of the mission will be located in Accra, Ghana. It will bring together the collective assets of the UN and work closely with the governments in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.