The National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), Oyo State has commended the state government on the cancellation of staggered school classes.
Mr Kayode Adeyemi, the President of NAPPS, who disclosed this in Ibadan on Monday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said that the cancellation would be beneficial to students.
“The cancellation is a welcome development and it would go a long way in bridging the learning gap and deficiency created by COVID-19 lockdown and cancellation of 3rd term.
“I commend the State Ministry of Education for taking that bold step in the right direction.
“Let me remind us that staggered resumption was in obedience to the cautious reopening recommendation from Medical experts.
“Having done that in the first term with no incidence of COVID-19, its just right that schools resume to the normal hours of engagement, irrespective of the second wave of Covid-19 or not.’’
“We have observed an incidence of truancy among children left at home to resume by 12 noon, without monitoring after their parents may have left for work in the morning.
“The government and those agitated should look beyond schools and focus on how to enforce compliance with the COVID-19 protocols in the market and public place.
“Especially at the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) centres nation-wide, which has now become the hotbed for increased infections due to jettisoning of COVID-19 safety protocols,” Adeyemi said.
However, Prof Oyesoji Aremu, the chairman, Education Management Board, Baptist Mission Schools said the cancellation of staggered classes in primary and secondary schools in the state amounted to policy inconsistency.
He said the effect of it would be on students, parents and guardians who would have to again adjust to the old one-off class sessions.
“In the first place, the staggered class policy that is now abrogated was ill-conceived and not sensitive to the welfare of parents, learners and teachers.
“It stands to reason that although the government’s argument was to ensure safety in line with COVID-19 protocols, the fall-outs suggested otherwise. This perhaps, accounts for the reversal of the policy,” he said.
Aremu noted that the irony of the reversal of the policy was even strange given the resurgence of COVID-19 in the last few weeks.
“Here, teachers, parents and learners would not only have to readjust to school activities, they would also have to re-strategise their COVID-19 safety efficacy.
“In all these, thoughtful considerations are not being factored into the whole academic resilience of the learners,’’ he said. (NAN)
