They averred that the consequences of shutting them down are more grievous than the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic the government is trying to combat.

The school owners under the agies of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools, NAPPS, through its National President, Otunba Yomi Otubela, disclosed this during a Zoom meeting with stakeholders and journalists on Thursday.

Otubela said during the closure of schools last year, about 30 per cent of its members went bankrupt with some putting up their schools for sale.

He noted that the palliatives promised by the government last year under the Survival Fund barely scratched the surface.

“We all heard what UNICEF said a few days ago that schools are not drivers of the pandemic and that keeping the schools locked would do more damage to the society in general than the pandemic we are all fighting. I can say unequivocally that schools are better structured to manage their pupils and students.

‘In big cities like Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano and others, schools come to the rescue of parents by helping them keep their children safe. In NAPPS, our members have put all the necessary facilities in place to comply with the directives of the PTF on COVID-19 and the NCDC.

“While we appreciate the efforts of the government to keep schools safe, we have done a number of things and we suggest the same for public schools. One of which is that there should be strict adherence and enforcement of the safety protocols. Wearing of face masks, use of alcohol-based hand sanitiser, daily reading of body temperature of people, physical distancing.

“Not admitting any sick person into school premises, provision of isolation room in every school in the case of anybody falling sick while in school among others. Public schools that have large student population should adopt staggered resumption and lesser number of teaching hours.

“We also suggest that monitoring teams should go round all schools to ensure compliance and we even want parents to be part of such teams, their children we take care of are also our children, ” he said.

Recall that the Federal Government had earlier announced that classes will resume from 4th August to allow SSS3 students in Nigeria prepare for the forthcoming West African Examination Council (WAEC) examinations.

It also noted that the examination had been scheduled to commence on the 17th August, 2020.

However, NAPPS President, Yomi Otubela in a statement on Tuesday said the news was cheering for students, parents, teachers, school owners and other stakeholders.

The body thanked the Ministers at the Education Ministry for their roles and giving listening ears to concerns about the suspension, promising to take safety as a priority by ensuring that staff, students and visitors adhere strictly to the safety protocols and COVID-19 guidelines.

Otubela urged state governments to follow suit by calling an emergency virtual meeting of all stakeholders in both public and private schools.

He tasked them to further enlighten schools on what needs to be put in place having taken cognizance of their state peculiarities to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

“We shall use the opportunity of this resumption to assess the workability of safety protocols that are in place in schools and hope that we can use the success of it to ensure other students fully resume as soon as possible”, he said.