LASG Urged To Declare State Of Emergency In Public Schools Before Resumption

By Idris Olukoya

Mr Yinka Ogundimu, Chairman of the Lagos State House of Assembly Committee on Education, has urged Lagos state government to declare state of emergency on public schools before resumption.

Ogundimu gave the advice during the inspection of facilities at Odo-Obara Junior High School, in Epe, on Saturday.

He said that the purpose of the visit was to inspect the facilities the school have put in place on the prevention of the spread of COVID-19 as the schools prepare to resume.

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“I am disappointed in what I saw. The school did not have enough washing hand points at the gate.

“The two washing hand points the school had were not enough to cater for 500 students to wash their hands.

“We have seen the facilities in the school and we want to say that the state government should declare a state of emergency on the school and there is need for immediate reconstruction of the school.

“The classrooms and the furniture there are bad and the conditions of the staff rooms are not good at all.

“The state Ministry of Education should come to the school immediately and put things in order before the students resume, ” he said.

The lawmaker said that the hall of Odo Obara Senior High School was deplorable and that it needed urgent rehabilitation.

Ogundimu condemned the maintenance culture of the management of the school, adding that the staff rooms were too dirty for anyone to stay.

“The school management preparation for resumption after COVID-19 Pandemic is zero. The school don’t have enough washing hand points.

“The students should be tested at the gate for temperature, they should wash their hands and be sanitized.

“The building of the school hall is still okay, but the roof is bad. There is need for perimeter fencing and the ministry of education needs to visit the school immediately, ” he said.

Earlier, Mrs Mojirade Owolabi, Principal of Odo Obara Junior High School, said that they had running water, wash hands basin, sanitizers and nose masks for the teachers and the students.

She said that the population of the school is 1,472, and that they had 32 teachers including the principal and three vice principals.

“We have 16 classrooms with an average of 83 students per class. JSS 3 students would resume first to write exams and they are 320 in number, so we will have 30 students per class, ” she said.