The Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, presented draft guidelines for the reopening of schools to the National Assembly on Tuesday 23 June.

He recalled that schools in the country were closed by the federal government in March to stem the spread of coronavirus.

During the presentation at a meeting with the Senate Committee on Primary and Secondary Education, the minister also announced that they proposed a way to move the education sector forward during the coronavirus pandemic.

He said;

“We don’t want to announce it at this time so that some people don’t accept our proposed guidelines for reopening schools.” Even if the Senate hadn’t called us, we would have come to you to discuss it, because we’ve already discussed it with the House of Representatives.

“The documents were presented to you so that you could offer criticism and input as key stakeholders.

However, the vice-chairman of the committee, Akon Eyakenyi, expressed concern that students in public schools might have a biased academic session, as most of them will not be able to learn online like their colleagues in private schools during the pandemic.