Lagos State Government has sealed 10 private schools found to have flouted the closure directives of the Federal and state governments due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The directives are aimed ensuring the safety of students.
Director-General, Office of Education Quality Assurance, Lagos State, Mrs Abiola Seriki-Ayeni, disclosed this on Friday.
Seriki-Ayeni, who had led the Monitoring and Investigation team of the office, disclosed this during the second and third phase of the massive monitoring of private schools compliance to the directive to curb the spread of the pandemic in the country and the world at large.
She said a large number of private schools visited across the state were found to have complied while the non-compliant schools were sealed.
But Seriki-Ayeni did not mention the names and locations of the defaulting schools.
She added that the exercise would be continuous and encompassing, cutting across all the education districts in the state to discourage the nonchalant attitude of some schools to the directive.
The DG said, “No doubt, COVID-19 has had negative effects on our schools but we want students to come out stronger and better. We want to make sure schools are closed; we also want to make sure schools are adhering to the closure directive since the number of COVID-19 infection cases has increased dramatically over time.
“On the field, we want to stay put to what we know is true and we want to consistently do it to students and school-based staff.”
Seriki-Ayeni, who earlier warned of the danger inherent in the exposure and clustering of students in a class, stressed that any school found operating, while trying to beat government scrutiny without concern for the health and safety of pupils, would be sealed.
The DG also enjoined parents and school owners to abide by the directive of the state government to stay safe and healthy by promoting washing of hands with soap, wearing of mask in public places and using alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
“This is a unique time in the entire world, therefore, it is only the living that learns,” she said.