Lagos to sanction schools that failed to resume January 4

The Lagos State Government on Saturday threatened to shut down schools that failed to reopen for academic works on January 4.

The state government had last week directed all schools in the state to reopen on Tuesday, 4th January 2022, for the second term of the 2021/2022 academic session.

The Director-General, Office of Education Quality Assurance, Abiola Seriki-Ayeni, who disclosed this in a statement, said the state government has started the compilation of schools that failed to comply with the directive.

She said the government developed a harmonised academic calendar in conjunction with relevant stakeholders in the education sector in June last year in a bid to ensure uniformity in the system.

Seriki-Ayeni reiterated that part of the mandate of her office was to develop a harmonised school calendar in conjunction with stakeholders in the education sector and ensure compliance, stressing that the monitoring exercise embarked upon by the officials of the Agency was to appraise the level of compliance with the resumption date, students’ presence and COVID-19 safety protocols.

Revealing that some schools disobeyed the directive, the DG explained that the Year 2021/2022 harmonised school calendar was developed in conjunction with stakeholders in June 2021 to ensure uniformity in the education system.

She said the agreement was communicated to all schools and associations to ensure equal educational standards and learning systems.

“During our recent exercise to monitor the level of compliance with Tuesday 4th January, 2022 resumption date, we observed that the level of compliance was low. We are going to seal the schools that have not adhered to the academic calendar with ‘Notice of Non-Compliance’ stickers and issue letters of invitation to the Administrators to visit our office in Alausa where further disciplinary actions will be taken”, Seriki-Ayeni was quoted as saying.

She emphasised the need for all schools, public and private, to comply with the academic calendar in order to ensure that an equal system of learning in all schools in Lagos State is achieved.

Seriki-Ayeni, therefore, urged school owners to communicate effectively with parents to prepare their wards early for resumption, stating that it takes an entire term to prepare for an upcoming term.