Schools in Lagos move against spread of coronavirus

The schools in Lagos State, public and private, from primary to tertiary levels have joined in the campaign against the spread of coronavirus in the country.

They said they knew that schools stand the high risk of spreading the disease because of their large concentration of people, hence, their putting in place various precautionary measures just as they did during the Ebola outbreak about five years ago.

The schools at higher level include the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka; Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo; Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH); Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education (AOCOED), Otto\Ijanikin, among others, while at the primary and secondary education are all the government-owned schools and those privately-owned, including members of the National Association of Private Schools Proprietors (NAPPS), the League of Muslim School Proprietors (LEAMSP) and the Association of Formidable Educational Development (AFED), and so forth.

They gave this indication in a separate interview with our correspondent at the weekend, saying they were all aware of the disease and the danger in its spread, especially in a state like Lagos with over 20 million residents.

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The UNILAG’s deputy vice-chancellor (Academics), Prof Oluwole Familoni; the spokesmen of LASU and YABATECH, Messrs Ademola Adekoya and Nwabueze Ejiofor respectfully, as well as AOCOED’s Registrar, Mr Shehu Muhideen Oladamola, told Tribune Online that they are working hard at their own level to curtail the spread of the disease.

The NAPPS’s chairman, Alhaji Wasiu Adunmadehin and his counterpart in charge of LEAMSP, Mr Fatai Raheem, and AFED’s President, Mr Orji Kanu, also told our correspondent that they are giving the issue all the deserved attention.

They said the Ebola outbreak incident also in Lagos about five years ago is still very fresh in their memory and therefore would not leave any stone unturned also this time around to ensure coronavirus does not filter into their schools.

They listed some of the measures they had put in place to include but not limited to creation of awareness about the disease and the ongoing sensitisation campaign against it in and around the school communities, the regular washing of hands with clean water and soaps, avoidance of unnecessary body contacts and sanitizing of hands at various strategic places.

Prof Familoni, for instance, said: “The Director of Health Services and the Dean of Students Affairs unit are two major officers saddled officially with this responsibilities in UNILAG and they are already on top of the assignment together with that of Lassa fever.”

While noting that UNILAG already has a place set aside to quarantine any person suspicious of Lassa fever, he added that the school would be guided by the directive on ground by the Federal Ministry of Health as regards coronavirus.

At the lower education and especially in the private sector, AFED, a group of low fees charging schools with members scattered all over the corner of the streets of Lagos, said they had resolved to use thermometer to screen their students, teachers and visitors’ temperature at the point of entry and alert the authority immediately if there is an issue.

He said AFED members still have with them, functioning thermometers they used during the Ebola incident and that getting one to use now would not create any financial burden to them again.

“All we need to do is to change the battery if they are dead,” he added.