All the 104 Unity Colleges across the country are ready to open their gates to students in exit classes, the Federal Government has said.
The Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, said this in a statement on Monday by the Director of Press and Public Relations at the ministry, Ben Goong.
Ahead of the reopening scheduled to begin on Tuesday, the minister announced the preparedness of the unity colleges at a meeting with Commissioners of Education of the 36 states of the Federation via the Zoom platform.
He commended the principals of the schools for the comprehensive preparation put in place for the reopening of the schools.
According to the statement, the commissioners across states reported varying degrees of preparation and readiness for reopening of schools between August 4 and 10 for virtually all schools within their jurisdictions.
“From today (Monday), the Honourable Minister of State for Education, Permanent Secretary, and Directors will embark on an assessment tour of all Unity Colleges to ascertain and confirm the reports they have received from the Principals of Unity Colleges,” it said.
The statement added, “Federal Education Quality Assurance Directors deployed to the States have been directed to monitor compliance in their respective states.
“Honourable Commissioners from the States were enjoined to embark on assessment tours in their jurisdictions to ascertain the level of preparations for reopening.”
While most schools would reopen on Tuesday, Nwajiuba noted that others would continue to fine-tune their preparations in the coming days for reopening.
He asked all school authorities to communicate their specific reopening dates to their parents and students in order to avoid chaos in the system.
The minister also advised that all returning students should undergo temperature checks among other protocols before being admitted into their schools.
He met with the commissioners a week after he announced the dates of the examinations for students in various graduating classes in the country.
They include the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examinations (SSCE) organised by the National Examination Council (NECO) for students in SSS 3, and the National Business and Technical Examination Board (NABTEB) examinations.
Others are the Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE) for JSS 3 students and the National Common Entrance Examination (NCEE) for intending primary school applicants into Unity Colleges.
