The Kano State Government said it would provide palliatives to teachers and non-teaching staff of private schools to cushion the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje revealed while flagging-off the distribution of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to 538 public and private schools ahead of resumption.
Ganduje, represented by the state’s deputy Governor, Mr Nasir Gawune, said the private schools owners have complained to him over the challenges their staff were facing occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
He noted that the Government would look into the issue and see the possible way out of it.
On the distribution of the PPEs, Ganduje said it was part of preparations for the resumption of the Secondary School final year students to write their examinations.
According to him, the materials include face masks, hand sanitisers, hand washing facilities and infrared thermometer to check the students’s temperature.
Ganduje further said that the state government was on the verge of crushing and winning the fight against the highly contagious COVID-19 pandemic in the state.
He called on the residents to strictly adher to the laid down protocols by health experts in order to completely overcome the menace in the state.
The governor said the government had made use of facemasks mandatory not only in schools but in the state as a whole, noting that the enforcement would start soon.
He called on the Frontline workers, principals and teachers, to judiciously put to use the materials to curb the spread of the disease among students.
Earlier in his speech, Commissioner of Education, Mr Sanusi Kiru, said Kano State was the only state that had taken the responsibilities of distributing the materials to the schools which had met the request of the Presidential Task Force (PTF).
According to him, out of 27,454 students taking final year West African Examination Council (WAEC) Examination in the state, 11,400 are from public schools and 16,460 from private schools.
The Commissioner of Health, Dr. Ibrahim Tsanyawa, said all students would be subjected to screening and hand washing.
He added that was why the government needed the provision of the materials to ensure that nothing was taken for granted.
The representative of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools, Hajia Maryam Magaji, commended the effort of the government and said the exercise was carried out free of charge.
She appealed to the state government to consider two terms waiver for private schools revenue collection due to non-payment of school fees occasioned by the pandemic.
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