Parents of all units of Chrisland School across the country, under the auspices of the Parents Teachers Association, PTA, have cried out over the continuous closure of Chrisland High School, Ikeja, Lagos for over seven weeks.
This is following the passing of one of the students of the School, Late Miss Whitney Adeniran, during the school’s inter-house sports competition.
In a press release signed by the chairpersons of the PTA, the association stated to have earlier written a letter to the Lagos State Government, passionately appealing for the reopening of the school, for the sake of the 500 plus students who have been stranded at home since the closure.
The body pointed out that some of the students in year 9 and year 12 have terminal examinations, external examinations and international exams to sit for, in the coming weeks.
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It read, “The PTA notes with regret that the school has remained shut even thought the incident leading to the closure did not happen within the school premises in the first place. The PTA is also very much aware that the Coroner’s Inquest is currently ongoing regarding the matter. Therefore, the continuous closure of the School in the face of an ongoing Coroner’s Inquest and other investigations on the matter defies logic.
“The PTA submits that it is morally unfair to make other innocent children suffer for what they know nothing about with the educational trajectory of most of them hanging in the balance and indeed, about to be completely jeopardized by the continuous closure of the school.”
The body stated that the call is in the interest of their children who suffer great mental stress and disillusionment as a result the current state of impasse.
The press release read further, “It should be noted that a lot of these children require psychological intervention as most of them are still suffering from the emotional trauma of losing one of their fellow students and cannot understand why they are at the same time being punished by the Government for the same occurrence.”
The PTA also noted the support and empathy continuously shown to the Adeniran family over the ‘unfortunate and heart-breaking incident’. Also making a call to the Lagos state government to consider the appeal of the parents on behalf of their children.
“While we continue to sympathize with the Adenirans and pray that God will continually uphold them, we call on His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to kindly and urgently consider the passionate appeal of all Chrisland parents and the cry of over 500 children who have sadly been grounded at home for upward of seven weeks now and reopen Chrisland High School Ikeja without further delay.”
Meanwhile, Daily Trust gathered that the school has been partially opened to students in terminal classes.
In a letter, Folasade Adefisayo, Commissioner of Education, said the decision was taken to allow students prepare for upcoming examinations.
She also invited the school representatives to a meeting slated for Thursday.