The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), on Thursday, commended the Federal Government’s decision to postpone the resumption of schools in the country till October 13 to contain the spread of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).
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Reacting to the development, the NUT President, Michael Alogba-Olukoya, said the decision was commendable.
Alogba-Olukoya said that the postponement was a proactive and bold step taken to contain the spread of the Ebola virus.
He said: “I want to appreciate the Federal Government for the N1.9 billion intervention fund to contain the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in the country.
“I want government to ensure that the fund is judiciously utilised to avoid and prevent more spread of the deadly virus.
“The idea of allowing Nigerian factor as it concerns the fund to fight the disease should be seriously discouraged.”
Alogba-Olukoya also called on government to make efforts in developing vaccines for prevention and provide screening centres where Nigerians can go for test pending the resumption of the schools.
Besides, he said that the two-week mandatory training to be conducted by health officials for school officials was a good decision.
He, however, called on school authorities, health officials and other stakeholders to exhibit high level of seriousness, commitment and patriotism at the two-week mandatory training.
Alogba-Olukoya said: “my candid advice to all teachers in the system is that they should be conscious of their primary contact.
“They should abide by the rules and they should equally advice the students to comply with the protective measures being put in place by the health officials.”
The Federal Government had, on Tuesday, directed primary and secondary schools to resume on October 13 instead of the initial resumption date of September 8, following an outbreak of the disease in the country.
It said that the order affected both private and public institutions.
The Federal Government also said the schools’ resumption date was postponed to enable school officials undergo a two-week mandatory training conducted by health officials on how to handle Ebola cases.
