7 Reasons Why Schools Should Not Be Re-Opened For The Rest Of 2020 (Opinion)

7 Reasons Why Schools Should Not Be Re-Opened For The Rest Of 2020 (Opinion)

I know those who are eager to return to the classroom will not like this article but truth must be said at all times, not minding who is involved.

There is a new normal and we need to adjust our lives to it or else be consumed by its consequences.

Schools at all levels in Nigeria have been closed since March when it appeared that the coronavirus had found its way into the country. It is needless to state that the leadership of the country did not take any proactive step in preventing it. The deed has been done and we all should be forward-thinking.

While the governments of different states have been opening up the economy gradually and lockdown being eased nationally, it is pertinent to note that schools should not be reopened anytime soon. If you ask me, I will say for the rest of this year. Below are some reasons for my assertions:

Testing is ridiculously low in Nigeria: As of the time of writing this piece, it is so unfortunate to note that not up to 45,000 Nigerians have been tested. I mean for more than two months, the government has not tested up to 50,000 out of an estimated population of 200 million. Remember that the best way to stop the spread of the virus is to detect it on time and isolate infected people from the rest of the population. Now, this is not happening in Nigeria. It will interest you to know that Ghana with an estimated population of 27 million people has tested almost 200,000 of her citizens. What of South Africa with a population of 50 million? We are not testing enough and the virus is being spread unchecked.

You may want to ask how this affects the resumption of students. Well, this is simple: if schools are reopened now, there is high likelihood that an asymptomatic carrier of the disease among the student populace will infect their peers. This is a dangerous path to thread.

There is high number of infected people: As of the last count, over 6,000 people have been infected with the virus out of the about 40,000 people tested. This means about 15% of the samples collected returned positive. This is against the 1.5-2% in Ghana. These are some of the indices to compare before saying that we should do what those countries are doing. As I said under my first point, due to low testing capacity, the disease is spreading faster than imaginations. We need to think differently. If you tell students to resume today, what is the certainty that some of them have not been infected? We are yet to get to the peak of the virus, let alone reach a dwindling stage.

We do not have a system that can contain an outbreak: You and I know this point well. Over the years, successive governments in the country neglected critical sectors in the economy, the healthcare sector inclusive. Today, we are all faced with its consequences. It would interest you to know that we have just 5,000 bed capacity across the country. Yes, with all the billions and huge donations made, our isolation centers in Nigeria can only contain 5,000 people! In fact, it was 3,500 before it was increased. If there is an outbreak in any school, where do we put them? Most students in public schools are from poor homes where the whole family lump up themselves in a room or two. This means the option of self-isolation is out the book for them. For now, let them stay safe wherever they are instead of bringing them out to what we cannot handle.

Preventive measures are not possible in Nigerian schools: While private tertiary institutions and some solid private secondary schools may have the capacity to adhere to preventive measures, this is an impossibility in the public schools. I attended the University of Ibadan while my best friend graduated from Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), so I am armed with a first-hand experience of what it looks like to be a student in any Nigerian tertiary institution. Ideally, classrooms are overcrowded. What do you think is likely to happen in such an environment? Just a person can infect a thousand people. We saw it happen in Ghana where just a person infected over 500 people in a company. Over 50 people have tested positive in an Ibadan telecommunication firm. Which other fact do you need to agree with me?

Overcrowded hostels: Have you ever seen how students are cramped in a room in hostels? Schools like OAU may have more than 15 people in a room designed for just 4 people. The situation is similar in many other schools too. Children of poor parents will need to get themselves accommodation illegally. Blame the system! If classrooms are not overcrowded, be sure that hostels will. Experts have noted that the virus transmits faster in an enclosed environment. A word is enough for the wise. Even in developed world where they don’t have such issues, many of them have moved their classrooms online till 2021. They know the danger lurking around if they should call for physical gathering of students. We need not joke with fire in Nigeria.

Students cannot be easily controlled: The hardest thing is to control pupils and students. How do you tell pupils not to have contacts with one another? How do you stop secondary school students from playing football? How do you stop them from fighting when there is no teacher with them? How do you stop their over-zealous siblings at the tertiary level from holding hands on prayer ground? There would be physical contacts, no matter how hard we try to curb it! More so, many of them live off-campus. You don’t want to know if any of their neighbors had been infected and the unlucky student is now distributing it freely to others on campus during lecture hours.

There is no vaccine yet: In fact, Boss Mustapha, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation said that we should not expect a vaccine for coronavirus until the 2021. So, our surest bet is to stay safe and avoid being infected. If there is no vaccine, then, students should not be allowed to roam about freely. What do we treat them with if many of them are infected simultaneously? Please, let’s play safe and keep hoping that things get better by the end of this year.

For these seven reasons, I strongly believe that resumption should be off the discussion for the rest of 2020!