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Chief Patrick Ukah, Delta’s Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education.

By Magnus Emuji

Primary schools in Delta State are to resume academic activities as primary six pupils have been asked to resume school on Wednesday, September 16, 2020.
In the same vein, all primary school teachers in the state have been ordered to resume duties on Monday, September 14, 2020.

The Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Mr. Patrick Ukah, in a statement in Asaba Friday (11/09/2020) after a comprehensive meeting with relevant stakeholders, said that the reopening is in line with the decision of the state government, in conjunction with the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 and the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), to implement phased resumption of schools beginning with exit classes.

He said that on resumption, the pupils are to immediately commence revisions for their cognitive placement examination scheduled to take place on Saturday, September 26, 2020.

Ukah called on primary school heads to ensure that all COVID-19 protocols as enumerated by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) are strictly adhered to in order to avoid the spread of the disease among teachers and pupils.

He charged the school heads to emulate their secondary schools counterparts who adequately organised their schools for the return to school of SS 3 and JS 3 students.

Ukah restated that each class room should not accommodate more than 20 pupils to ensure proper physical distancing, in addition to complying with other protocols put in place to control the spread of the disease.

According to him, no pupil should be allowed into the the school compound without wearing a facemask, adding the state government will provide facemasks for them.

He said that teachers who have been trained on COVID-19 preventive measures are expected to train other teachers between Monday when the teachers will resume and Wednesday when the pupils will come back.

He added that officials of the ministry led by himself, those from the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) and members of the committee set up by the state government to ensure compliance with the established protocols, will from Monday, September 14, 2020, go round to monitor the situation of things in all primary schools in the state.