Edo government, varsity task teachers on COVID-19 protocols ahead of today’s reopening

Threatens ‘No Work, No Pay’ as NUT insists on strike

Edo State Government, yesterday, concluded its two-day training for teachers in public and private schools with a charge to strictly observe all COVID-19 preventive measures ahead of today’s resumption of academic activities.

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr. Osawonyi Irowa, told journalists in Benin City that the training was organised by the ministries of health and education, saying appropriate circulars on the role of schools, students and pupils had been circulated.

Pledging government’s commitment to containing the pandemic, Irowa said: “The state has procured additional personal protective equipment (PPEs) for distribution to health facilities across the state to address rising infection of health workers and decontamination of affected facilities with measures to address other preventive measures.”

BESIDES, Vice Chancellor of the Igbinedion University, Okada (IUO), Prof. Lawrence Ezemonye, said the institution was prepared to welcome its students back to campus.

He disclosed that enforcement for compliance of non-pharmaceutical intervention including consistent, proper and compulsory wearing of face masks, hand washing and physical distancing, was being conducted in the institution to contain the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.

Ezemonye said the institution had put in place safety protocols to ensure compliance with the health and safety precautions aimed at containing the spread of coronavirus in the institution.

He stated this when members of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Edo State COVID-19 Task Force led by its Vice President, Comrade Thomas Ikhine, visited him in Okada.

MEANWHILE, the state government has threatened to adopt ‘no work, no pay policy, as the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) vowed to continue its strike.
In a statement issued in Benin City, Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Osarodion Ogie, directed teachers to resume in their various schools today, as failure to do so would be considered as forfeiture of their salaries, adding that the government would activate no work, no pay policy if they remained adamant.

“This is to inform all parents, teachers and members of the public that all primary schools in Edo State shall resume full academic activities on Monday, February 1, 2021.

“Government wishes to stress that teachers and head teachers in public schools are required to be present in their various schools. Failure to resume work would be considered forfeiture of salary, as government has activated the no work, no pay policy,” the statement reads.

But in spite of government’s threat, the NUT advised parents and guardians to keep their children and wards away from school, insisting that the indefinite strike was still on.