Amid rumours and speculations following the outcome of lockdown and its effect on education, Nigeria has decided to reopen schools, albeit in phases. To that effect, the latest guideline from the COVID-19 Presidential Task Force (PTF) allows students in graduating classes (Primary 6, JS3 & SS3) to resume in preparation for examinations. Some states, however, are also considering full school resumption. For example, Benue State Executive Council has approved the partial re-opening of schools. Even more shocking, public school students in Oyo State, already returned to their classrooms.
COVID-19 is real and not leaving anytime soon, according to experts. Further, the asymptomatic nature of its transmission poses an even greater risk. Hence, to ensure the safety of school children and to reduce the transmission of coronavirus in learning centres, the government has stipulated guidelines following the resumption of school activities. The guidelines focus specifically on personal safety measures such as social distancing, compulsory handwashing, use of protective masks among and so on.
While many parents and teachers have expressed concerns over student’s return to school, the full safety implications of school resumption are grossly understated. As a recent DATAPHYTE report highlighted, Nigeria is at a crossroad in its decision process. Yet, with the resolve of the government to proceed with the gradual reopening of schools, one has to question the practicality and effectiveness of these resumption guidelines.
Life must continue, only if it’s worth living
At this stage in the pandemic, it is understandable to make compromising decisions, especially when the risk of transmission is outweighed by a failing economy. And while we embrace the “new normal” in a bid to get back to our lives, we must not forget the “new”- meaning we need to do things differently. To that effect, while the Nigerian strategy for re-entrance into this new normal seems to be “hope for the best”, it must not pretend that students are not at risk while commuting to and from schools. After all, the reported community level of coronavirus transmission is not selective of age and certainly would not exempt school children.
Worse still, if the state of education facilities pre-COVID-19 is anything to go by, they are a glaring indication that Nigeria is not ready for school resumption. Or, at the very least, these are factors the government needs to consider amidst the deliberations on the full resumption of all school children.
The ugly truth
The Compendium of Public School’s Basic Education Profile Indicators 2018 revealed rather disheartening details about public basic education facilities in Nigeria. Per the data, there are 76,827 schools for the 31.2 million school children enrolled in public basic education schools across the country. Worse still, Nigeria’s public-schools have only 570,188 classrooms of which only 300,892 of the classrooms are considered good. And to top it off, there are just 442,686 teachers for all the public basic education facilities in the country.
Overview of Nigeria’s Public School’s Basic Education Profile Indicators 2018
Proportionately, learner to classroom ratio in Nigeria averaged at 54.3 per cent. A breakdown of this shows that as much as 63 students are crowded together in a class in public junior secondary school. The data also indicated the number of good learning rooms in public schools across the country. Only 52.8 per cent of the total number of public schools were considered good. Each good classroom accommodates an average of over 99 students.
Among other things, the learner to classroom ratio suggests the impracticability of social distancing measures within classrooms. How big can a classroom be to accommodate the minimum 45 students each within a radius of one meter of free space? At the other extreme is a class occupancy of 107 students per class for the relatively good classrooms in primary and junior secondary schools. With such an occupancy ratio, physical distancing measures might be simply impracticable.
Another dimension concerns the enforcement of laid down prevention guidelines. From the data, the ratio of teachers to learner ratio is very low. Even at the least, there is only so much a single teacher can do to control 42 students who mostly will be in their early adolescent years. The situation is worse at the pre-primary level where a teacher serves about 630 pupils! On a good day, a good teacher may effectively instruct and control 50 pupils; multiply that by 12 and you have a job for Superman.
Back to the drawing board
As Nigeria decides on full resumption, the government should consider the associated issues. Beyond providing washing kits and Personal Protective Equipment, perhaps, the government can publicly publish the dimensions of its classrooms. Also, the government should clarify how it intends to ensure compliance with guidelines among students within the reality of the pressured public-school staff.
Further, similar clarification will be required at the subnational level. For instance, in Oyo State where students are back to school, the Education Profile Indicator (2018) revealed that as much as 71 learners share a single classroom in some cases. Also, over 46 percent of the classrooms in Oyo state were considered bad in 2018. Teacher to learner ratio is 1:125, 1:57, and 1:18 for pre-primary school, primary school, and junior secondary school, respectively. With these statistics, school reopening may as well be a willful attempt to expose Nigerian children to coronavirus risk.
Summarily, while the data reveals the extent to which the Nigerian government has failed its school children, it also describes the series of risks associated with the resumption of schools. At this point, the Nigerian government cannot afford to further fail its future stars by exposing them to the immense risks of the destructive virus. However, if the resumption of schools is considered a priority, clear-cut guidelines should be provided within these realities.