School resumption in Nigeria has been a debate by the government in the past couple of weeks. Finally, the Federal Government on Monday said the Senior Secondary School 3 pupils will resume on August 4.
This is in preparation for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination, which is starting on August 17.
The Federal Ministry of Education’s Director of Press and Public Relations, Ben Bem Goong, who disclosed this in a statement titled, ‘Exit classes to reopen August 4,’ said the decision to recall the pupils was taken during a virtual meeting involving the ministry and commissioners of education in the 36 states of the federation.
The ministry said on resumption on August 4, the pupils would have two weeks within which to prepare for WASSCE.
Although the Nigeria Union of Teachers and the All Nigeria Conference of Principals of Secondary Schools, in separate interviews with The PUNCH, supported the reopening of final year classes, they insisted that state governments must provide running water and personal protective equipment.
Recall that schools in Nigeria had been shut since March following the outbreak of coronavirus.
But the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 had, at its press conference on June 29, said the SSS3 pupils in preparation for WASSCE would resume.
But the Federal Government, after the Federal Executive Council meeting on July 8, said it had suspended the plan to recall graduating pupils for WASSCE because of the COVID-19 spread.
Despite the Federal Government’s decision to delay the resumption of the pupils, states, including Oyo and Cross River, had recalled their SSS3 pupils.