The Lagos State Government has sealed off ten private secondary schools for flouting the closure directives of the federal and state governments as a result of Covid-19 pandemic to ensure the safety of students.
The Director General, Office of Education Quality Assurance, Lagos State, Abiola Seriki-Ayeni (Mrs), who led the Monitoring and Investigation team of the office, announced government action during the second phase of the massive monitoring of private schools compliance to the directive to curb the spread of the scourge still ravaging the country and the world at large.
The affected schools were however not disclosed, but are located at Somolu, Akowonjo, Abule Egba, Lagos Island, Ketu, Ilasa and Ifako areas of the state.
A statement by the Head, public Affairs, OEQA, Olaniran Emmanuel, quoted the director general saying: “a large number of private schools visited across the state were found to have complied while the non-compliance schools have been sealed off. The exercise.
“The exercise would be continuous and encompassing, cutting across all the education districts in the state to discourage the nonchalant attitude of some schools to this directive. Central to the monitoring exercise is the safety of all learners due to their vulnerability”, Seriki-Ayeni said.
“No doubt, Covid-19 has had negative effects on our schools but we want students to come out stronger and better. We want to make sure schools are closed; we also want to make sure schools are adhering to the closure directives since the number of Covid-19 infection cases has increased dramatically over time.
“On the field, we want to stay put to what we know is true and we want to consistently do it to students and school based staff”, the DG said.
The Director General, who earlier warned of the danger inherent in the exposure and clustering of students in a class in the name of lesson strictly reiterated that any school where teaching and learning is ongoing while trying to beat government scrutiny without concern for the health and safety of learners will be sealed.
While admonishing parents and school owners, Seriki-Ayeni encouraged them to abide by the directive of the Lagos State Government to stay safe and healthy by promoting washing of hands with soap, wearing of mask in public places and using alcohol based hand sanitizer. “This is a unique time in the entire world, therefore, it is only the living that learns”.
She pleaded with them to embrace the norms of online schooling adding that parents should not expose the lives of their children to danger.
