Soludo made the announcement in Awka, while meeting with principals and head teachers in public primary and secondary schools.

It was reported that on Sept. 21, 2023, the governor announced free and compulsory education from nursery to junior secondary in public schools in line with his Solution Free Education policy.

He noted said that students of senior secondary in public schools would pay N5, 000 only as tuition fee.

Against this backdrop, the governor while meeting with principals and head teachers in public schools stated that from next week, the free education policy would be available to students of senior secondary in public schools.

He said this would further increase children’s access to education and ensure effective development of their personality, talents, mental and physical abilities.

“I want to assure you that even with the resource constraint; our administration will continue to work very hard to deliver on its mandate.

“I’m giving a directive that students in senior classes, who have already paid their N5,000 tuition fees for this term should be refunded,’’ he said.

He reiterated his administration’s dedication to human capital development and promised to continue making strides in this area.

Soludo also said that the government would commence payment of the N70, 000 minimum wage in October.

“We remain committed to investing in our people and this new minimum wage and free education initiative are testaments to our resolve.

“This move is expected to have a significant impact on the lives of workers and students in Anambra, improving their standard of living and access to quality education,” he said.

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Ukah said the schools’ resumption was in line with the directive of Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa that academic activities should resume on Monday along with “teleclass”.

Our correspondent reports that closure of schools in the state was occasioned by the hijack of the peaceful Endsars protest by hoodlums in the state.

Ukah, in a statement on Friday in Asaba, called on Heads of schools to continue to enforce the COVID-19 protocols by their pupils and students to avoid the spread of the disease.

He said that officials of the ministry would continue to monitor activities in the schools to ensure strict adherence to the directive, adding that defaulters would face the risk of having their schools closed down.

The commissioner said that the resumption of nursery schools was being reviewed and the announcement for the beginning of academic activities for them would be made in due course.

He said that airing of the ministry’s open distance learning on radio and television, ‘teleclass’, meant to complement the normal learning in schools, would begin on Monday.

“The programme is packaged by the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), in collaboration with the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) and the state Ministry of Information.

“It will be aired between 5.00p.m and 7.00p.m on week days by the ministry’s media partners.

“The partners are Delta Broadcasting Service (DBS), Asaba; Delta Rainbow Television (DRTV), Warri; Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), Asaba; Quest TV, Ughelli; Quest 93.1 FM, Ughelli; Bridge FM, Asaba; Crown FM, Warri and Rize 106.7 FM, Warri,” he said.

Ukah said that the subjects to be taught during the programme include English Studies, National Values, Basic Science and Technology and Mathematics for primary school pupils.

“Mathematics and English Studies for Junior Secondary School (JSS) students and Mathematics and English Language for Senior Secondary School (SSS) students.

Ukah advised pupils and students to make use of the opportunity presented by the programme to consolidate on what they were being taught in schools, considering the short period available for teaching and learning this term.

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Yildam stated this on Friday in Jos at a sensitisation and town hall meeting on the state social health insurance scheme, organised by the agency for the private sector and the informal sector.

He said that registration of a child above 5 years of age was mandatory, and that the directive would be enforced using the health card as a criterion for the enrollment process.

He said that the organisation had paid a courtesy visit to the Executive Chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), in preparations for full implementation of the directive.

The director-general said that children under 5 years were among the vulnerable group in the equity plans; others included pregnant women, Internally Displaced Persons, People With Disabilities and People with mental disability (excluding those who engage in substance abuse).

Our correspondent reports that the scheme has four plans comprising equity plan, formal sector, informal sector and private sector plans .

“It is expected that after five years of age, these children are in school, and with the collaboration of SUBEB here in Plateau, no child will be enrolled into any school without presenting our card (Health insurance).

“If that child is covered under his parents, then we will have to have a photocopy of his father’s identify card and follow through the facility which that child accesses health care, without which no child will be enrolled into school

“But we are giving a window of two years starting from Sept. 15, 2019 to 2021, and from Sept. 16, 2021, every child that is below five years of age must have a card that is duly registered with us before being taken in to school,” he said.

He said the directive covered both children in the private or public schools, saying the enrollment of all Plateau residents would be in clusters, either in association, groups or in communities.

Yildam explained that it was easier to manage enrollment in clusters which gave a sense of inclusiveness, saying individuals not belonging to such groups could register through the private sector.

He said enrollees had the right to choose their facility, saying the agency had a list of accredited health providers that had met the minimum criteria of the agency

The PLASCHEMA boss said enrollment of the scheme which was officially launched in September by Gov. Lalong was ongoing, and that advocacy was continuous and critical for people to get enlightened on the Scheme,hence the need for the town hall meetings.

He said that enrollees had a waiting period of 30 to 45 days before they would start accessing the insurance services.

He explained that a special system had been developed using customised tablets and hand held devices to work where there was internet or no internet services.

“The target of the insurance scheme is to reach 20 per cent of the entire population in Plateau through advocacy in three months.

“To enroll the vulnerable starting with 325 Primary Health Centres,” he said.

In her remarks, the Deputy Director, Corporate of Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA), urged transparent application of uniform standard in the implementation of the scheme.

She commended PLASCHEMA for the meeting, saying it was necessary to ensure public awareness, thus the success of the scheme.

She said NECA was committed to safeguard and defend the interest of employees and business, in legal and legitimate means, while championing progress of local economic and commercial issues affecting business.

A participant of the meeting, Mrs Rahila Hamza, the Secretary of All Farmers Association of Nigeria , Plateau chapter, said that it was a good initiative and she would enlighten her members on provisions of the scheme.

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The FCT Minister of State, Dr Ramatu Aliyu, said the exercise started on Thursday at the Government Junior Secondary School, Garki, in Abuja.

Aliyu said the exercise was aimed at protecting and safeguarding pupils, students and management and staff of public schools against COVID-19 pandemic.

The minister used the occasion to call on operators of private schools in the territory to carry out the same exercise before school resumption.

She also urged parents and guardians to ensure that their wards were properly kitted before going to school.

“We are here to symbolically kick start the fumigation as collectively decided and championed by the FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Bello.

“Earlier in the day, we had a news conference on the need for the schools to be opened on Monday for academic activities.

“So, to that effect and in adherence to extant rules and guidelines of the COVID-19 pandemic, we want to ensure that there are adequate safety and care for our children.

“So, we are embarking on the fumigation of our schools. The Minister is also doing the same thing at JSS, Jabi.

“From today, the whole public schools in the Federal Capital Territory will be simultaneously fumigated until Monday when we are ready for resumption.

“As for the public schools, of course, there are criteria for resumption and most of them are complying.

“However, any school found wanting, there are standards for disciplinary action to be taken; but for now, we are good to go,” Aliyu said.

The Principal of Government Junior Secondary School, Garki, Mrs Mohammed Fatima, expressed the preparedness of her school to resume academic activities as announced by the authorities.

“We are very prepared as you can see for yourself. We are perfectly prepared.

“The grasses are trimmed, fumigation is going on and we have our wash hand basins, sanitiser, liquid soaps and face masks.

“In short, everything is on ground,” she said.

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The State Commissioner of Education, Dr Ibrahim Abdullahi, stated this in Gusau on Friday while inaugurating a School Farm Programme and E-Quality Assurance Training, organised by the State Universal Basic Education Board (ZSUBEB).

Abdullahi said “Governor Bello Matawalle has directed me to ensure that all secondary schools in the state include Agricultural Science-based subjects in their curriculum”.

“This measure is to train students in various agricultural subjects for them to be exposed to various agricultural opportunities in future and make them agricultural experts in future.

“We are going to enforce the directives of the governor, we are going to make sure that all schools practice agricultural activities in the farms. Every student must be given a raw to farm at least 2 metres”.

On quality assurance E-training, the Commissioner charged the participants to give more attention to the training.

He cautioned them to utilize all the motorcycles and equipment given to them judiciously.

Abdullahi described the launching of the two programmes as remarkable achievements by the SUBEB.

“I commend the present leadership in the SUBEB for making changes in promoting Primary and Junior Secondary Schools in the state.

“At the ministry level, we are going to give maximum support to education activities,” he added.
In a remark, the State Commissioner of Agriculture, Dr Aminu Sulaiman, described the School Farm programme as a welcome development in agriculture.

Sulaiman, represented by the Director of Fisheries and Horticultulure in the ministry, Aliyu Umar, said the programme can never be estimated as it would help in food production and eradicate hunger.

“We are going to support schools under under this programme with capacity building,” he assured.Officials of the National Air Space Research Development Agency (NASRDA), who spoke at the occasion, said the Agency was commitment and ready to support the programme.

Earlier, the SUBEB Chairman, Alhaji Abubakar Maradun, said the board is giving serious attention to the two programmes.

Maradun said the E-quality assurance programme involved effective supervision of schools, saying “We are going to train quality assurance officers from 14 Local Government Areas on effective supervision of schools in the state through modern technology.”We have procured 17 motorcycles for School Support Officers (SSOs), Tablets for quality assurance officers, while Laptops, printers and deskstops are meant for Local Government Education Authorities.

“On the School Farm Programme, we are providing dry season farming equipment to 26 schools across the state to implement the programmes,” he explained.

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The building is located at No. 15, Ansarudeen St., by Ile Epo Bus stop, Iyana Ejigbo.

It was reported that public and private primary and secondary schools in Lagos State are to re-open on Monday after about six months closure due to COVID-19.

Lagos State-owned tertiary institutions re-opened on Sept. 14.

The Director-General of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Dr Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, told newsmen that no person was trapped in the collapsed building.

He noted that the school had been under lock and key since March due to the COVID-19-induced restrictions.

According to the LASEMA director-general, the building, which collapsed at 8:15 a.m. on Saturday, is part of a conjoined (twin) three-storey building.

He said that the collapse was attributable to “visible distress”, adding that the collapsed portion affected the second wing, as shown by visible cracks on the walls, pillars and decking of the second portion.

“Distress calls received established that the building collapsed at about 8:15a.m.

“Information gathered from some officials of the school revealed that the building had previously shown signs of distress and the school was planning to renovate and refortify the structure.

“The three-storey building has two wings; the wing that collapsed seriously affected the second wing, as visible cracks can be seen on the walls, pillars and decking.

“Fortunately, nobody was trapped.

“Responders to the incident are LASEMA, Lagos State Building Collapse Agency and the police,” he said.

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Nwajiuba said this during the briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 on Monday in Abuja.

The minister, however, expressed optimism that the date for resumption was around the corner, adding, that “we are not going to be brandishing dates.”

He disclosed that he and the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, met some stakeholders in tertiary education earlier in the day on the issue.

Nwajiuba said about 78 privately-owned universities were insisting that they were ready for resumption while the response from government-owned universities was still “50-50.”

He said that after aggregating opinions, he would return to the PTF to review the situation and then go ahead to make a pronouncement.

The minister urged students of tertiary institutions protesting the continued closure of their schools to be a little more patient with the government.

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The Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, stated this when he addressed State House correspondents at the end of the virtual meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

Adamu said the Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba, was misquoted when he spoke on the matter during a Presidential Task Force Briefing on COVID-19 in Abuja on Monday.

Nwajiuba was reported to have announced that school facilities would be made available for revision classes ahead of the examination which commence from Aug. 4 through Sept. 5, and called on parents to take note of the date.

However, according to Adamu, the Federal Government’s schools will not reopen any time soon until it is safe to do so because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Schools under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Education will not reopen on Aug. 4 or any time soon.

“Our schools will only open when we believe it is safe for our children and that is when the situation is right, not when the number of COVID-19 infection is going up in the nation.

“So, I just want to make that clear. “We will not reopen schools now for examinations or any other reason unless it is safe for our students; even WAEC because WAEC cannot determine for us what we do. So schools will remain closed.

The minister frowned at the way and manner WAEC was handling the issue of the examination timetable, saying the ministry of education was consulted before the announcement of the new date for the exams.

He, therefore, emphasised that no school would participate in the West African Senior School Certificate Examinations earlier scheduled for between Aug.4 and Sept. 5.

“Yesterday we called a meeting of stakeholders to tell us their situation and what needs to be done in order to reopen schools but while the meeting was going on, WAEC announced that they will start exams.

“So let’s see who they are going to start with,” he said.

“I feel responsible for the whole children in Nigeria not just those in Federal government-controlled schools. Please let’s save our children from this.

“You can look at this scenario; just one infected child going into a class, can infect everyone in the class and after classes they go back to the hostel; because children cannot observe social distancing as expected.

“If one child in the hostel is infected, the next morning everybody will be infected so this is not the right time to open schools,” he said.

He, therefore, maintained that final year students preparing for the Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE) would not be allowed to return to school contrary to earlier announcement.

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The State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Mr Olasunkanmi Olaleye disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday in Ibadan.

Olaleye said that various training had been given to categories of school heads, principals and teachers on how to monitor and report any sign of illness that showed symptoms of COVID-19 to the authority.

He said the State had set up Emergency Operation Centres (EOCs) in the State capital and at zonal levels and as well as appointed Incident Managers for each school who would report any emergency directly to the EOCs through special communication lines.

He went further to state that each class would have a Warder whose obligation was to relate with the Incident Managers on his or her observations.

“Among the measures are the compulsory hand-washing points at the school entrances and at the entrance of each classroom as well as alcohol-based sanitiser for the use of students and teachers.”

“Throughout last week, what we have been doing was to train school heads and teachers of public and private schools, preparing them for this task of taking firm control of preventing the spread of COVID-19 into our schools as we resume.”

“Each school has been mandated to strictly enforce social distancing and observe other protocols against COVID-19 among teachers and students as laid down by NCDC.”

“Students are to come to school with their face masks and follow instructions on the guidelines from the management, these are imperative since the government cannot lock down forever and education is an aspect of life that should not be allowed to suffer backwardness.”

“I can boldly tell you that with these measures in place, the children are safer with us in school than even many homes, imagine situations whereby students are asked to go to private lessons that provide no safety measure.”

“Many follow their parents to the market and workplaces where the possibility of contracting the virus is high, so they are rather better kept at school than home,” he said.

It was reported that teachers of public schools in the state should resume on June 29 in preparation for students resumption by July 6.

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The reports had claimed that government has set up a committee to consider the reopening of the schools closed down after the breakout of the Coronvirus pandemic.

But the state’s education ministry, in a statement by the Chief Press Secretary, Malam Aliyu Yusuf, described the report as “fake news”.

According to him, the story is not true and is a clear misrepresentation of the actual situation on ground.

“Kano State, like other states, received a document from the Federal Ministry of Education containing proposed guidelines to be put in place whenever it is appropriate to re-open schools, which we were asked to review and give our input.

“It was in the course of the review of the documents that the Ministry of Education constituted an Ad-hoc Committee to undertake the assignment. Its input will be transmitted back to the federal education ministry.

“The ministry also wishes to debunk a widely circulated rumour that a directive was issued to private schools to suspend online lessons for their students.

“This news is equally untrue as even the state government is conducting similar programmes through radio and television stations,” he said.

He added that the ministry specifically directed all private schools to desist from conducting assessment tests and examinations online.

“Government has already suspended the second term academic activities, especially test and conduct of examinations.

“A circular has been widely circulated to school operators to halt the conduct of student assessment and examination.

“However, we reliably gathered that some schools operating within the state refused to adhere to the circular.

“Some are conducting various forms of assessment of their students under the cover of the online classes to the extent of collecting 3rd term school fees from parents.

“Some of these schools went as far as collecting huge amounts as cost of data and the online classes.

“This is a clear violation of the directive given by the Kano State Government.

“It is to be noted that the ministry has compiled evidence of such violations of the directive and will soon invite owners of such schools for proper disciplinary. No one is above the law.”

“The general public should disregard any misleading information propagated by some unpatriotic elements who are desperate to cause confusion in the state education sector for their selfish intentions,” he advised.

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