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Students return to campus in Ebola-hit Sierra Leone

Xinhua, March 24, 2015 Adjust font size:

Some eight months after the schools in Ebola hit Sierra Leone were closed, students of the Junior Secondary Schools in the country returned to schools Monday to prepare for their Basic Examination Certificate Examination.

According to the Public Relations Director of the Ministry of Education, Samuel Turay, all modalities have been put in place "for these children to go to school and take their exams".

The turn out in most of the schools visited by Xinhua said the first day in schools is a bit encouraging since it is meant to prepare the children for their exams that will qualify them to go to the next stage.

The exams have been slated to take place on the March 30 which was the original date for all schools to be reopened.

Primary and Secondary schools in the country including tertiary institutions will now open on April 14 due to the "delayed disinfection and dechlorination of schools particularly schools that were used as holding and treatment centers," the minister told the media.

The Coordinator of the Schools Reopening Programme, Christiana Thorpe said "over 55 thermometres, donated by the government of China have been provided and is being distributed to all schools in the country", whilst the school teachers have been trained on the use of the thermometres.

The Information Minister, Alpha Khan told the press in one of his several press conferences that the government is spending close to 139 million dollars for the reopening of schools including the rehabilitation, the construction of toilets, as about over 2700 schools have no toilets.

He said the government will also provide "subsidies together with public examination fees for all governmental and non- governmental schools across the country attempting public examinations".

The Chairman of the Conference of Principals, Sylvester Meheux noted that they have been looking forward "to the opening of schools as it was detrimental to the children" noting that an idle mind is the devil's workshop.

Though parents support the reopening of schools but have expressed their concerns about the safety of the children when Ebola is around. They hoped all precautionary measures are taken to ensure their safety. Endi