Mrs NWOBODO IJEOMA BLESSING (B.Sc, PGDE, M.Ed, PhD in view, FICSSM, ACIPM, MCICN) is a teacher, Consultant and the Proprietress of Victory Joy School located at Kokoro-Abu, Ikorodu.
In this interview with the Publisher/Reporter – in – Chief, Kunle Adelabu, she spoke on re-opening of schools, challenges being faced by private school owners, challenges of online classes, what government and corporate bodies should be doing to help school owners out of financial loss and how her school is adhering to the measures stipulated by the government. Excerpts:
THE IMPACT: As a proprietress of an educational institution, how have you been coping with the lockdown?
Mrs Nwobodo: Good day, Mr Kunle Adelabu.
Let me commend the efforts of the Incident Commander, Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu for all his combative efforts towards COVID-19 curve flatten. Since the lockdown order by President , every sector of the country has suffered economic set-back. Undoubtedly, the educational sector appears to be one of the worst-hit sectors by the COVID-19 Pandemic, especially the vulnerable private school owners whose income is largely tied to payment of school fees.
Recall that all schools in Lagos state were closed down on Monday, March 23, till date without any palliative from government. Honestly, coping and surviving have not been easy. To ensure that learning continue, we engaged the pupils through on-line teaching using WhatsApp. To me, this has not been 100% effective like the face – to- face classroom learning due to constraints and challenges faced by the school and parents (of course pupils) alike. It has not been easy financially and otherwise.
THE IMPACT: How do you view the government’s insistence on not opening educational institutions now?
Mrs Nwobodo: Well, to me, it’s only the living that has hope. You know the selfish part of human being will always come to play first, that urge to have schools open so that it will be business as usual. However, the lives of our children are very important and come first. To me, the government has taken the best decision so far because these children are vulnerable. While adults can strictly adhere to safety measures, reverse is the case for the children, it is even more difficult to get them to observe social distancing. Therefore, the need to protect and secure our children is far more than any instinct for financial gains. I know it’s not easy for us (private school owners), but we can still endure and pray that this pandemic will be overcomed so that things can be normalized.
I still want to state that government can open the schools when they can take responsibility and very sure that the children are safe and protected.
However, I have reservations with opening of religious places without consideration for opening of educational institutions. On a lighter note, does it mean that one cannot contract COVID-19 at worship centres? Why should the educational institutions be used as a “sacrificial lamb”. Children play together in the street, go to market, hawk around the street, probably go to worship centres, etc, but yet are prevented from going to school to learn.
THE IMPACT: What are the challenges being faced in engaging your pupils/students online since the lockdown of schools in March?
Mrs Nwobodo: Since the lockdown order came into force, my school has been engaging our pupils through on-line learning platform. We equally informed our parents to encourage their children to take advantage of the Lagos state Radio and Television educational programmes to further enhance proper learning. But then, we are faced with a lot of challenges which I can classify into – School/Management’s challenges, Parents’ challenges and Pupils’ challenges. The problem of access to Android/Smart phones, high cost of data, parent – child bonding, etc, are but few of the challenges we face regarding the online teaching process. These challenges have directly or indirectly affected the effective satisfactory delivery of the school Curriculum. Moreover, on-line teaching is inaccessible to some parents and students and it is equally expensive and if adequate supervision is not put in place, learners can be exposed to some negative contents.
THE IMPACT: You have been out of operation since commencement of the lockdown, how have you being coping with your staff’s welfare?
Mrs Nwobodo: The issue of staff salary and welfare have been giving me sleepless night since the lockdown. I have not been able to pay my staff full salary since April. I want to also place on record here my deepest appreciation to people like you, who assisted with some palliatives for my staff during the peak of the lockdown. To be candid with you, it has not been easy financially, due to the fact that the school is not generating any income since the lockdown. The private school owners and their staff are really suffering because their income and remuneration respectively are consequent upon payment of school fees and l am pleading with the government to come to our aid.
It is so sad that the government did not include us, the private education sub-sector, in theIR plans for financial and material palliatives, considering the fact that we normally pay all our dues and levies as demanded by the state government.
THE IMPACT: What do you think that government should be doing now to help the schools get back into operation after the lockdown?
Mrs Mwobodo: The Private Education Sub-sector deserves all the help they could get from the government. It will be great if the Federal Government, State government, Local government and Corporate bodies can assist them. Specifically, assistance in form of but not limited to the following: Provision of soft loan with low or no interest rate to cushion the effect of COVID-19 pandemic, tax relief and suspension of some dues/levies, suspension of interest on some existing loans collected by private school owners until schools re-open, provision of financial and technical support to aid online teaching and learning process and inclusion of private schools/ Teachers and other staff in the list of beneficiaries of government’s palliatives.
THE IMPPACT: What do you think school proprietors too should be doing to reduce the effects of the lockdown on them?
Mrs Nwobodo: This is the time I believe every reasonable school owner should diversify into other income generating ventures (whether goods or services). They should strive towards multiple streams of income. There is also the need to cut down all unnecessary expenditures.
THE IMPACT: What measures have you put in place to ensure compliance with government directives on social distancing and other measures in preventing the spread of the coronavirus in your school?
Mrs Nwobodo: The government has highlighted some safety and preventive guidelines for school re-opening. Together with my management team, we have been working towards strict compliance with all government directives. Measures which include but not limited to; Provision of customized banners/signpost instructing everyone to wash hands, wear appropriate face mask and observe social/physical distancing, provision of alcohol-based hand sanitizers, making sure that there is adequate supply of running water for hand washing and fumigation of the school environment before resumption and at regular intervals after resumption.
Others are provision of infrared thermometer, preparation of sitting arrangement to comply with the rules of social/physical distancing and ensuring that surfaces, classrooms, toilets and offices are thoroughly cleaned.
THE IMPACT: Thank you for your time.
Mrs Nwobodo: Thank you.
