THE management of Queen’s College, Lagos has extended the resumption date for its students to March 19. The students who were supposed to have returned to the school on Sunday following an earlier extension have been away since their mid-term break two weeks ago.
An alleged outbreak of diarrhoea in the school is believed to be responsible for the death of two students: Vivian Osuinyi who died on February 15, and Bithia Itulua, who died on February, 22. No fewer than 50 others were also said to have been infected, with many of them hospitalised.
Confirming the second extension, the Chairman of the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) of the College, Sir John Alfred Ofobike, told Tribune Online on Sunday that the two-week period would be used to “clean up” the college.
“They were asked to resume today (Sunday), but a new message was sent to them and the new date in the message is March 19.
“There are issues that have been raised concerning the facilities in the school. There is the need to check all the facilities to be sure that everything is in order. So, the management met with the old girls and the school management committee. As it stands, the old girls have volunteered to do some intervention work in the areas of cleaning up the school environment, and the kitchen as well.”
Ofobike said even though his association was yet to receive the report of the Federal Government committee set up to investigate the cause of the deaths, it was nonetheless necessary to embark on a massive rehabilitation of the facilities in the school, many of which have been identified to be below standard.
“As far as we are concerned, we have not got any report from the investigative panel set up by the government concerning the death of the two students. So, we are looking to have very potable water for the school community, and these things cannot be done overnight. The water corporation is now involved. So a lot of work of work is going on, and those are the reasons for the postponement of resumption again to March 19.”
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