BY SEYIFUNMI LUMEKO
Ogun State government has mandated all senior secondary school boarding students in the state must take the tests for COVID-19 and malaria before admission into their various hostels.
The Senior Adviser to the governor on Primary and Secondary Education, Mrs Ronke Soyombo in a statement announced this yesterday.
Soyombo said the State Ministry of Health has already made provisions for the students to take the tests, as part of the conditions for the re-opening of schools in Ogun.
Soyombo explained that the exercise which began on July 31 and would end on August 3, was ongoing at three public health care facilities in the state.
They include ‘The 250 MTR’ – a white edifice opposite the State Secretariat in the Okemosan area of Abeokuta, the state capital.
The other two facilities are the Ogun State General Hospital in Ado-Odo Ota and the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital in Sagamu.
The governor’s aide stated that tests of the students were part of the frantic efforts of the state government to ensure a safe learning academic atmosphere for both learners and teachers in all public and private schools.
She noted that all principals of private and public schools have been asked to enforce the directive of the government which was in line with the guidelines of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
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“All the returning boarding students are to stay in the school hostels only. Parents are hereby advised that private hostels are exempted from accommodating students during this period to ensure strict compliance with NCDC directives,” the statement read.
Soyombo said part of the “strong condition of admittance” to school was that returning boarding students must present a COVID-19 certificate showing negative.
“To this end, all principals are, therefore, directed to immediately disseminate the above important information to all SS3 learners in the state and to ensure that the above instructions are strictly adhered to as sanctions will be meted out to any defaulting school,” the government warned.
