School reopening: Protest as Ogun govt imposes N25,000 payment for COVID-19 test
- The Ogun state government has reportedly imposed a mandatory N25,000 payment for COVID-19 tests for returning students
- Parents with children in private schools have opposed the N25,000 COVID-19 tests fee
- The parents accused the government of discriminating between students in private schools and those in public schools
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The decision of the Ogun state government to impose a mandatory N25,000 payment for COVID-19 and malaria tests for returning boarding students in private schools has sparked protests among parents.
The Senior Secondary three students (SS3) are expected to resume schools ahead of their West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), but the government has mandated each student to undergo a test as a precondition for resumption into school, Daily Trust reported.
Source: UGC
The government had said no boarding school student would be admitted into schools without a certificate of COVID-19 test which must be negative.
While the COVID-19 test is free for public secondary school students, their counterparts in private schools are required to pay N25,000.
The parents who have their wards in private schools reportedly visited MTR 250-bed specialist hospital, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, the designated place for the test on Sunday, August 2.
But they could not get their children tested for free as they were asked to pay N25,000 for each child.
The parents who were opposed to the decision reportedly protested and blocked the entrance of the hospital while the health officials hurriedly left the place.
Speaking on behalf of the parents, Kehinde Sanwo, the vice-chairman, parents teachers association of one of the private schools in the state accused the government of discriminating between students in private schools and those in public schools.
Meanwhile, the Association of Private School Owners of Nigeria (APSON) has expressed fears that there would be ‘mass failure’ of students in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) scheduled to commence on August 17.
Daily Trust reported that APSON on Thursday, July 30, attributed its prediction to poor preparation of students due to the COVID-19 lockdown.
Legit.ng gathered that this was contained in a statement jointly issued by Bishop Godly Opukeme and Bishop Elakhe Imoukhede, chairman and national director of administration of the association in response to the federal government’s directive that schools should resume academic activities on August 4, only for exit classes.
The statement said that to avert mass failure, there should be four to six weeks of academic revision to enable students to adequately prepare for the examination.
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Source: Legit.ng
