Coronavirus: For the time being schools will stay closed-Federal Government

- The government says it can not allow schools to reopen now, since the country is presently in the crucial stage of coronavirus communal transmission

- However, the presidential task force says it is working on guaranteeing that academic sessions are not affected

- schools closed in March and teachers from private schools are still demanding palliatives to survive

Intends of students coming back to school soon after the eruption of the deadly coronavirus pandemic disease hasnt been declared yet.   The Nation reports that for now, the Nigerian government on Covid-19, through the Presidential Task Force (PTF), said schools could not reopen. 

The PTF, raising concerns over the growing number of reported cases, stated that this statement was based on the need to safeguard the vulnerable people in society and to stop the spread of the virus in communities. In its regular press conference on Thursday, June 11, the task force defined the issue of school resumption as critical because of the virus' communal spread.

The chairman of the PTF, Boss Mustapha, clarified that the task force worked closely with the Ministry of Education to fashion a recovery plan for the schools. The reason, he said, for careful planning is because most students might be living with the group of Nigerians who are highly susceptible to the pandemic illness. Mustapha, who also doubles as the Federation 's government secretary, recommended that students would be allowed to write examinations. He noted that "we don't want the next academic session to affect what happened."

This statement by the PTF may not go well with private school teachers who have recently appealed to the government to support them with palliatives as they are starving, following the continuous shutdown of schools as part of efforts to limit the spread of the COVID-19. 

In a statement issued by the teachers' spokesman Abdul-Ganiyy Raji, the teachers noted that it would be arrogant for the government to wait for private school owners and teachers to start starving to death before coming to their assistance. 

The spokesman further noted that it is not fine to ignore the wellbeing of private school teachers, adding that they primarily survive income from customers and schools have not received third term fees.