COVID-19: Private schools in Kaduna operating secretly – govt

Kaduna State Government has vowed to shutdown private schools conducting sessions secretly against the lockdown order in the state.

The government said it discovered that some private schools were indirectly conducting sessions through parents of their students.

The State Commissioner of Education, Shehu Usman Muhammad, made the disclosure in a statement issued on Sunday in the state.

Kaduna State is on a 30-day lockdown as part of measures to halt the spread of COVID-19 in the state.

He explained that the ministry had also observed that such schools organise these sessions during the two-day window of each week, formerly Tuesdays and Wednesdays now Wednesdays and Saturdays.

The commissioner said parents troop in large numbers to such schools with the aim of submitting assignments from their wards, while some other privates schools have commenced the 3rd term session of the academic year also against the quarantine order.

He said same schools do assemble teachers for marking of such assignments in their premises.

“The attention of the Kaduna State Government has been drawn to some private schools still conducting sessions indirectly through assembling parents in their premises in the name of collecting and returning students’ assignments as against the COVID-19 Quarantine lockdown order.

“This is not acceptable and is a fragrant disrespect to the State quarantine order.

“Thus, the Kaduna State government has directed that schools involved in the aforementioned act should desist from it or have their schools closed down permanently,” he said.

The Commissioner said all assignments must be issued online and marked online too without face to face interactions.

He reiterated that all schools must remain closed until further directives by the State government.

The state government also called on all students and parents in both public and private schools to continue practicing all that is needed to stay safe from the COVID-19 pandemic.