Cholera outbreak: Not all Lagos schools may resume from break – Commissioner

Not all primary and secondary schools in Lagos State may resume from the current mid-term cum Sallah break because of the outbreak of cholera in some parts of the state, the Commissioner for Primary and Basic Education, Hon. Jamiu Alli-Balogun, has said.

He stated this on Tuesday in an interview with Vanguard newspaper.

According to him, the Ministry would have to wait for an advisory from the Ministry of Health to know the next line of action to take.

“Our schools are fully prepared for resumption. The necessary steps have been taken and we are on top of the situation. However, we are going to wait for the needed advisory from the Ministry of Health that is mapping out the areas affected by the outbreak of the disease.

” We hope to get the advisory later today and if the Ministry of Health tells us that going by their assessment of the situation across the state, they have found out some endemic areas where it would not be appropriate for schools to resume, schools won’t resume in such places. We cannot endanger the lives of our children.

“Later today (Tuesday) we will come out with the position of the government on the issue. If schools everywhere in the state are free to resume, no problem. The state government is not resting on its oars and has been taking steps to curb the outbreak of the disease,” he stated.

Alli-Balogun added that the administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has been investing heavily on education and would not allow anything to rubbish the efforts.

Recall that students in public and private schools in the state have been on break for one and a half weeks.
The first week was for the mid term break and the first two days of this week were public holidays for the Sallah festivities.

However, the United Nations Children Emergency Fund, UNICEF, few days ago raised the alarm that the government should ensure that the current outbreak of Cholera is not allowed to spread to school environment.

On Lagos Island particularly, which is also a densely populated area, residents are complaining about the dearth of potable water to use for personal and household chores.