Gabriel Dike, Lagos and Fred Ezeh, Abuja
As schools nationwide resumed yesterday for academic activities after the postponed presidential election, stakeholders have expressed concern over another shut down on February 22, saying the move will affect academic calendar and even students preparations for external examinations.
Schools nationwide were asked by the Federal Ministry of Education and state Ministries of Education to close shop for two days, on Thursday and Friday, February 14 and 15 because of the presidential election which was later postponed.
Another closure is in the pipeline as many are looking at the cost implication and the effect on the academic calendar, especially students preparing for the May/June 2019 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE, Junior WAEC and internal school examinations.
Proprietor of Focus International School, Abeokuta, Chief Lanre Ogunjobi, said the nation’s school system have not recovered from the compulsory two days holiday foisted on schools because of the presidential election.
Chief Ogunjobi noted that schools cannot afford to go on another break because of the tight academic calendar such as the forthcoming May/June 2019 WASSCE, JSS 111 exam (junior WAEC) and those preparing for UTME and internal examinations in their schools.
He asked if other countries like Ghana, South Africa, USA, France and other countries shut down their school system because of general elections.
The proprietor of Royal Academy, Ikotun, Lagos, Alhaji Tajudeen Alade was furious when he learnt the presidential election had been postponed and moved to February 23.
“Hope government will not declare another public holiday? My students are preparing for four external examinations and the coaching class has been disrupted,” he said in anger.
In Lagos state, government informed stakeholders that it was compelled by the change in election dates to review the 2018/2019 school academic calendar. It mnadated all schools in the state to close on February 22 and resume Monday, February 25, close again on Friday, March 8 and resume Monday, March 11.
The statement signed by Director General, Educational Quality Assurance, Mrs. Ronke Soyombo on behalf of the Deputy Governor, Dr. Idiat Adebule, said schools will resume on Monday, February 18 (yesterday).
“All public and private schools, school leaders and school association should take note and adhere strictly’’, she stressed.
Chairperson, FCT chapter of the National Association of Proprietors of Private School (NAPPS), Mrs. Olusola Bankole, said they might not consider the option of temporary closure of the schools again, as was the case in the past week in which the scheduled election was cancelled by INEC.
She said that though the decision was not binding on all members, it was suggested that members should take interest in the safety and security of the pupils especially in schools located violent prone areas.
Bankole said that last week decision to close the schools for two days obviously came with huge financial, logistics and academic losses for the schools, and they cannot afford such losses again.
She said: “We don’t rule out any sudden change of decision but that would practically depend on what happen within the week. We have received advice from our supervising agencies to watch the situation and act appropriately. We have equally communicated same to our members through our open and vibrant communication channel.
“However, our key interest is the safety and well-being of the children. In addition to that, we are committed to getting the children ready for the forthcoming Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and several other external exams that would come in few weeks time.”
She however hinted the possibility of temporary closure of the schools on Monday when the election result must have been announced.
“History has it that announcement of the election result always come with some form of reactions. It could be peaceful or violent depending on the conviction of the political party supporters on the sincerity of the electoral body.”
President of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), Usman Dutse, said the postponement of the election was a huge set back for the schools.
This, he added, was because the academic board of the school have barely concluded the re-adjusted the academic calendar of the school to accommodate the time lost to strike.
He said: “Recall that our two months old strike was called off few days ago. And academic and non academic activities shifted briefly because elections. Unfortunately, the institutions were still struggling to find a possible to make up for the lost academic time before the worst happened over the weekend.”
He was practically disappointed that elections could still be postponed in Nigeria after 20 years of uninterrupted democracy. He was however optimistic that the new date will be sacrosanct and the academic board of the institutions would quickly re-adjust their calendar to accommodate the changes.
“We have obviously lost a lot in terms of money, time and otherwise, to the two months of strike embarked by our members. Our priority is to make up for the lost time and interrupted academic calendar,” he added.
In his reaction, chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) University of Ibadan chapter, Dr. Deji Omole said the closure of the schools because of election was wrong in the first instance because election is not war.
His words: ‘’Even during war schools were protected except when it became inevitable. Children education should not be sacrificed for elections. The arbitrary closure of the schools because of elections should be totally discouraged.’’
Investigations by The Education Report revealed that the senate and Academic board of several universities and polytechnics have readjusted their academic calendar after the three months strike by ASUU and two months by ASUP.
Also, pupils of Federal Government Colleges did not resume yesterday like their public and private counterparts. Some parents told our Correspondent that the government has not recall the pupils to school after being sent home last week Thursday because of the presidential election.