The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has rejected the plan for online resumption of the 2019/2020 third term by private school owners in the territory.
FCTA also urged parents and guardians to ignore the purported resumption by the private school owners.
In a statement on Tuesday afternoon, the acting Education Secretary for FCT, Umar Marafa, said the directive issued to schools at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic stated that they should be closed “until further notice.”
He said that implies that no academic activities in all schools in any form shall commence until a notice to reopen is approved and conveyed by the secretariat.
“It has come to the notice of the FCTA Education Secretariat that some private schools in the FCT are disseminating information to parents and students indicating the resumption the 2019/2020 3rd term calendar online and parents were therefore expected to pay schools fees for this term prior to the purported resumption,” he said.
According to him, when the schools reopen, the fact that the second term was inconclusive would be factored into the academic calendar which will dovetail into the third term calendar, accordingly.
He said any action taken otherwise is likely to distort the academic calendar of the schools involved.
“In light of the above, any school purporting to reopen for 3rd term before the approved calendar for the opening of school post-Covid-19 is doing so against the provisions of the extant guidelines on the establishment and operation of schools in the FCT,” he said.
He advised the school proprietors and proprietress to maintain the ‘status quo’, keep their schools closed and not re-open in any form while they await further directives from the FCTA.
“Violators of this directive will face the full wrath of the law,” he said.
“The FCTA education secretariat has however concluded plans to introduce e-learning platforms to include lessons on radio and television channels to keep the students constructively engaged while the lockdown lasts,” he said.
Due to the outbreak of coronavirus, the federal government had ordered the closure of all Nigerian institutions to help contain the spread.
Newsmen reported how the Federal Ministry of Education said it had not directed the reopening of any school at any level.
Last week, the federal government launched a free e-learning portal for primary and secondary schools following the closure of schools nationwide to prevent the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.
Currently, Nigeria has 1337 confirmed cases of coronavirus, 255 discharged patients and 40 deaths.
