secondary contacts, the decision of the Federal Government to postpone
resumption dates for all primary and secondary schools in the country
to October 13 is, perhaps, the most resounding measure taken so far to
contain the spread of the Ebola Virus Disease. Most schools in the
country began their third term vacation around July 20 when the index
case, Mr. Patrick Sawyer, travelled to Nigeria. For many of the
schools, initial resumption dates ranged between the second and third
week of September.
The postponement of schools' resumption has however thrown spanner in
the works. The Minister for Education, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, had
explained on Tuesday that the measure was to mobilise the education
sector against any outbreak in schools. Higher institutions of
learning were also affected as all academic activities with an
international bias has been suspended. In addition, every primary and
secondary school in the country will be supplied a blood pressure
monitors and they are also expected to nominate at least two members
of staff for training on the virus.
"All the above measures shall also apply in all Federal Government
Colleges. All summer classes currently being conducted by some private
schools should be suspended with immediate effect until 13th of
October, 2014. All private primary and secondary schools must comply
with the directive given under these preventive measures. All tertiary
institutions are advised to suspend exchange of staff and students
programs, visits and major international seminars and workshops until
further notice,'' said Shekarau.
Although the number of mortalities and morbidities in Nigeria is
smaller when compared to the casualties in Sierra Leone, Liberia and
Guinea, the Federal Government is aping an established pattern in
these countries to tackle the virus. In July, the Liberian government
not only shut schools in the country, it ordered border closure and
placed non-essential government workers on a 30-day compulsory leave.
At the time, the Liberian Minister for Information, Mr. Lewis Brown
had said in an interview, "this is a major public health emergency. It
is fierce, deadly and many of our country men are dying and we need to
act to stop the spread.''
Expectedly, the decision has attracted criticism from pundits. In a
phone interview with our correspondent, the Lagos State Chairman,
National Association of Private School Proprietors, Mr. Yomi Otubela,
described the development as not well thought out.
"We appreciate the efforts of the Federal Government particularly that
of the Health Minister. But we are taken aback by the announcement of
the Education Minister extending the date for resumption. In as much
as safety counts in our schools, we make bold to say that schools are
where knowledge is gained. Asking the pupils to stay off schools, is
asking them to stay off knowledge. We started our sensitisation
programmes long before this pronouncement. Our members have purchased
temperature scanners, more wash hand basins and sanitisers even for
summer schools. We have not been napping,'' he said.
Also, a school proprietor who craved anonymity, urged the Federal
Government to rescind the decision with immediate effect. "That
decision should be rescinded immediately. What the Federal Government
needs to do is to compel schools to provide verifiable measures in
place to prevent the spread of Ebola. Schools should also be compelled
to organise a Parents Forum where experts will educate them on the
virus. This unilateral decision is most unfair,'' he declared.
As the development is raising dust, hunger and panic are spreading
among people unable to work because of restrictions aimed at
containing the spread of Ebola in Liberia and Sierra Leone, say church
workers in West Africa.
In Liberia's capital, Monrovia, church groups "are trying to get food
and distribute it to families who have asked us to help, but movement
is heavily restricted and there is little we can do," Salesten's
Father Jorge Crisafulli, provincial superior in West Africa, said in a
telephone interview from Accra, Ghana.
Neighbourhoods in Monrovia have been sealed off under terms of the
government-imposed state of emergency.
The World Health Organisation has estimated that more than 2,600
people in West Africa have been infected with Ebola since March. More
than 1,400 people have died from the virus.
Food prices in Liberia are "rising steeply and people are hungry,"
Father Crisafulli said, noting that "markets in the city that are
usually bustling are now empty and no trading is happening."
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“There is great fear of spread of disease where there are large groups of people,” he said.
Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea are the countries mainly affected by the current Ebola outbreak.
“Particularly in Liberia, Ebola has become an economic and social problem as well as a health problem,” Father Crisafulli said, noting that “panic and fear are now greater problems than the disease itself.”
“Feelings of isolation are brought on by international fear of ‘Ebola countries’ and banning of flights,” he said, adding that “people feel like lepers of earlier centuries.”
Many people recover from Ebola and return to their families, and there are “stories of extraordinary courage” in the face of death, he said.
Hunger is also a major problem in Sierra Leone, said Father Peter Konteh, executive director of Caritas for the Archdiocese of Freetown, citing as an example a complex near his own home that has been quarantined.
Security guards were placed at the gate of the Freetown complex that is home to 54 people after the August 6 death of an Ebola-infected doctor who lived there, he said.
While the guards ensure no one enters or leaves, there are stories that some have been bribed by residents “who said they were desperate to get out to buy food,” he said in an August 25 telephone interview.
Places affected by Ebola are quarantined for 21 days, he said.
Father Konteh said he and other church workers were investigating ways to provide food to people in similar situations “to help prevent desperation.”
While Caritas’ European staffers have returned home, the local staff continue their work, he said, noting that “one of our finance clerks who has lost nine members of her family to Ebola still comes to work every day.”
Food prices have escalated, particularly since the border between Sierra Leone and Guinea was closed in June, Father Konteh said.
Many people in Sierra Leone buy their food with money earned the same day, mostly through informal trading, he said, noting that the closure of trading places has led to severe levels of hunger.
Salesians in Liberia are “also worrying about how to pay teachers’ salaries” after they had to shut their schools in line with the state of emergency, Father Crisafulli said.
“We still need to pay salaries, but we have no school fees to use for this,” he said, adding that “the education system here is already in crisis and now everyone has the added setback of losing an academic year.”
In Sierra Leone, the government has asked the Salesians to take responsibility for children who have been orphaned through Ebola, Father Crisafulli said, noting that the order “accepted this challenge” after making careful preparations to do so safely.
“We are planning our interventions in an organised manner, taking people’s long-term as well as immediate needs into consideration,” he said.
Recognising that “prevention education can reduce levels of fear,” the Salesians have produced and distributed leaflets and billboards in Nigeria and Ghana as well as Sierra Leone and Liberia, he said.
Ebola is spread among humans through direct contact with infected bodily fluids.
PUNCH.