The Zamfara Government has begun fumigation of public and private schools in the state to make them safe for the students to sit for their Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSCE).
The state’s Commissioner for Education, Dr Abdullahi Ibrahim flagged off the exercise at Government Girls Arabic Secondary School, Gusau, on Thursday.
Ibrahim said that all the 193 day and boarding schools across the state would be fumigated.
“This is inline with the directives of the Federal Ministry of Education to reopen schools for exit classes.
“As we are all aware, we have directed our schools to reopen for the exit classes on August 9, 2020.
“Gov. Bello Matawalle has directed us to fumigate all secondary schools in collaboration with the Ministries of Environment and Health.
“All the school premises, especially the classrooms, examination halls, staff quarters, libraries, laboratories, kitchen and football fields, among others, would be fumigated.
“We expect to finish the exercise by Saturday as the schools would be reopened on Sunday.
“We have strong contact with the leadership of private schools in the state and will make sure that all the private schools across the state are also fumigated,” he said.
In his remarks, the Commissioner for Environment, Dr Nuruddeen Isah, said the ministry had enough manpower to carry out the exercise.
Isah said that the ministry had provided 780 personnel and 709 fumigation machines for the exercise.
The Commissioner for Health, Alhaji Yahaya Kanoma, also said the ministry had been directed to provide all COVID-19 protection materials.
Kanoma said the ministry would deploy its personnel to all the schools and examination centers to ensure effective adherence to COVID-19 protocols.
“We will provide enough testing kits, thermometers, hand sanitisers and face masks to the schools,” Kanoma said.
Also, the Commissioner for Information, Alhaji Sulaiman Tunau, urged parents and guardians to ensure that their children and wards promptly resumed classes and adhered to COVID-19 protocols.
Tunau commended the media in the state for their efforts in enlightening the general public on COVID-19 protection measures.
