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Gyang Bere, Jos
A group under Plateau State Labour and Civil Society Organizations (CSO) COVID-19 situation room has called on the Plateau State Government to put in place the necessary mechanism for the protection of children before the reopening of schools in the state.
In a press statement signed by the Chairman, Steve Aluko and Secretary, Paul Jatau urged government to create the necessary and needed atmosphere for citizens to strive and prosper.
“The Plateau State Labour/CSO COVID-19 Situation Room calls on the state government to, as a matter of urgency, work towards ensuring it put in place the necessary and needed protocols for the protection of our children before schools are reopened in the near future.
“The Labour/CSO COVID-19 Stuation Room thus reminds government on the need to provide the necessary PPEs for the various schools preparatory to the reopening of these schools.
“The dearth of furniture in our schools is one sore point too that must be addressed as this will help to ensure that students, when schools eventually reopen, will observe the social and physical distancing protocol.
“The teacher/student ratio must be looked at too especially in our public schools. Most often students far outnumber teachers thus making teaching and learning very difficult.”
The statement urged Government to employ more teachers to ensure some form of balance and called for the upgrading of health facilities in schools to make the fight against COVID-19 a success.
“A situation where health facilities are completely absent in our schools is unacceptable and should be remedied before the reopening of schools.
Government cannot do all of these without the co-operation of the parents.
“They too must teach their children and wards the basics needed for survival in the post COVID-19 era. The wearing of mask, regular hand washing and a totàl change in hygiene attitude which are the new normal must be emphasis.
“We must take lessons from other countries that reopened their schools but had to shut them down again due to the spike in the pandemic. For example Ghana and China. What did they not do right? How can we avoid the pitfalls that they did not take cognisance of?
“The Situation Room recognises the fact that we cannot keep our schools perpetually shut as doing this will affect our tomorrow. Therefore, making preparations to mitigate and find ways of getting round the pandemic and staying safe is not only relevant but necessary.” The statement read.
