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Lagos State Government has sealed off five private primary and secondary schools allegedly caught holding physical lessons within their premises.
The Director-General (DG), Lagos State Office of Education Quality Assurance, Mrs Abiola Seriki-Ayeni, who disclosed this on Tuesday, vowed that the government will heavily sanction any school found disobeying its directive on school closure.
She said some schools were caught breaking the state government’s order on school closure by the monitoring and investigation team of her office.
Seriki-Ayeni stated that it is worrisome that some private schools are still not complying totally with the government directive on school closure despite the rising cases of COVID-19 and deaths recorded in the state.
She stated the state government will publicly announce the name of the schools and their penalties as soon as possible.
The DG noted that the approval of many private schools is provisional, adding that non-compliance with government directives may lead to the closure of the erring schools permanently.
She urged school owners cajoling pupils to come to school under any guise to desist from such act, stating that coming together physically at this time portends a great health risk for both the students and teachers and the society in general.
The Federal and State Governments had closed down all public and private schools at all levels nationwide in March, and asked students to stay and study at home indefinitely as a way of curbing the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.