Exit class pupils of both primary and secondary schools in Benue State resumed on Tuesday in preparation for their final examinations.
A PUNCH correspondent who went round some schools in Makurdi, the state capital, observed that pupils had yet to resume fully.
Some of the schools visited are Mt. St. Gabriel’s Secondary School, Government Secondary School, Government Model School, Arabic School and Holy Ghost School, LGEA Primary School, all in Makurdi.
At Mt. St. Gabriel Secondary School, Makurdi (a missionary school), the Principal, Rev. Fr. John Asen, said out of the 300 students expected, less than 100 had resumed on Tuesday.
“We have fumigated the schools and provided hand sanitisers and hand washing equipment in line with the COVID-19 protocol. Our students are being checked in at the gate. Our level of compliance is about 99 per cent.
“We are expecting almost 300 students back, but the number of students that came back today is not yet up to a hundred. They got the notice just last week and you know this is boarding school.”
Also, in Delta State, it was a low turnout in some secondary schools on Tuesday as students resumed academic activities in compliance with the COVID-19 protocols after four months shutdown.
Some of the returning students were visibly happy as they expressed joy over the resumption and promised that they would observe all the safety protocols.
The state government, in ordering the schools reopening, had put in place some stringent measures for the resuming students based on COVID-19 protocols put in place by the NCDC to curtail the spread of the pandemic.
Speaking with journalists in Warri, the Zonal Coordinator of the Institute of Continuing Education, Warri Zone, Dr Ochuko Ushure, expressed the hope that more students would start coming to school despite the initial low turnout.
