Recall that the Federal Government had on Monday, 27 July said schools could reopen on August 4 so pupils could revise for two weeks in preparation for the examination which is scheduled to begin on August 17.

Lagos State Commissioner for Education Mrs Folasade Adefisayo, and the Special Adviser to the Ogun State Governor on Education, Mrs Ronke Soyombo, confirmed this to The Nation on Tuesday.

However, Ekiti Commissioner for Education Mr Foluso Daramola said SS3 pupils would resume, but that the state had not decided on whether Junior Secondary Three (JS3) pupils would also return.

“I am just coming from a meeting at the governor’s office on the issue.  We will issue a statement on it,” she said.

The Special Adviser to the Ogun State Governor on Education said schools considered to be high risk in Ogun would not be allowed to reopen, noting that such schools would be identified through their responses in an online reopening form.

In the form, schools are given the options of “risky” (coded red), “moderate” (yellow) or “none” (green) in response to questions about their readiness for resumption.

Soyombo said schools have until Friday evening to submit the form, which can be downloaded from the ministry’s website.

She said: “For schools that fill mostly red (risky) in all the fields, we will not reopen them.  We may need to do a contingency plan for their students.”

She said the state has met with stakeholders on the reopening, while risk assessment training has been conducted.

Soyombo said public schools in Ogun had been provided with water, soap and other facilities in line with the requirements for resumption.

Federal Government Colleges (unity schools) will resume on August 4 for SS3 pupils only.

Director of Press and Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr Ben Gong, said the Presidential Task Force (PTF) would announce on Thursday whether JSS3 pupils would resume.

Also yesterday, Benue State Government approved the reopening of schools for SS3 pupils.

Commissioner for Education Prof Dennis Ityavyar, said JSS 3 pupils would also resume.

He said the government had put necessary measures in place to curtail the spread of COVID-19.

He urged parents to ensure their children wear facemasks and observe other safety precautions.

On the planned handover of missionary schools to their owners, Ityavyar said a committee headed by the Secretary to the Government, Prof Anthony Ijohor, had been set up to make recommendations within a week.

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.

The Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba, made this known during the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 briefing on Thursday in Abuja.

Nwajiuba said sitting for the GCE may become the only option for Nigerian students if the country cannot convince WAEC to shift its examinations for any reason at all.

The Minister however noted that should Nigeria be able to meet up with the WAEC timetable, there was already a negotiated timeline to move local language subjects such as Ibo, Yoruba and Hausa behind to allow all participating countries the needed time to write the general subjects at the same time.

He also said the ministry will be meeting with relevant stakeholders on July 30 to assess preparations for the safe reopening of schools.

According to the Minister: “WAEC unfortunately, is unable to wholesomely move the exams but we have also worked out a negotiated timeline with WAEC on what we call peculiar Nigerian subjects which in the language of WAEC are subjects that are only held in Nigeria such as Ibo , Hausa and Yoruba.

“The Ghanaians will take examinations peculiar to them. But they are all in the first part of the time table so we will work out a domestication module that will take our peculiar subjects behind after we have done generals.

“This will buy us the time we need for all of us to be at par with the rest of West Africa and operating at the same time because the unanimity with which WAEC has always worked is still very important to us.

“Nigeria is not moving away from it, the option would have been to go to November to take the GCE external exams. Nigeria is carefully studying that if in the event everything fails, we may go to that way.”