ASUU warns against school reopening
Etim Ekpimah
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Ibadan Chapter, says reopening schools without provisions to meet COVID-19 precautionary measures, is dangerous.
The chairman of the Ibadan chapter union, Prof. Ayo Akinwole, said this in a release he made available to newsmen in Ibadan on Sunday.
According to him, the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on schools could be colossal if responsibility were not taken to ensure safety in the academic environment and cautioned that no pecuniary gains would be more than the lives of lecturers and their students.
Akinwole added that before COVID-19 pandemic, public varsities were overcrowded with students and hostel facilities took more than its capacity.
He asked parents not to be joyous at the news of a possible reopening of schools, but asked parents to persuade government to lay measures to avoid a surge in COVID-19 that might happen due to ill-thought-out reopening.
He said: “What we are simply saying is that the Federal Government should adhere to their own set guidelines.
“Our position, as a responsible union in all these, is that; throwing schools open in the midst of all these, is an open invitation to the tragic explosion of the COVID-19 scourge on a scale never witnessed anywhere since its outbreak.”
Speaking, he added that the union was aware that there had been agitations from some quarters for the government to reopen schools.
Akinwole noted that those leading the campaign are the proprietors of private universities, adding that ASUU is not in any way opposed to the call.
He said, “Nigerians should honestly interrogate this position. Has the Nigerian government met the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) criteria on COVID-19 protocols in our institutions? COVID-19 pandemic is still very much with us.
“It is in recognition of this fact that the government itself has rolled out certain conditions to be met before schools are reopened.”
He added: “How many of our public institutions can confidently vouch for the safety of our children given the available facilities such as the provision of running water for handwashing; social distancing, among students.
“Did he list others to include: the use of recommended face masks and shields, which are key components of NCDC protocols?”
