65% of private schools benefit from COVID-19 intervention funds | EduCeleb
EduCeleb
25th July 2020
National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) has revealed that 65 percent of its members benefited from the COVID-19 intervention funds provided by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
These funds, which are loaned to the schools were provided under the arrangement for Small Medium Scale Enterprises to cushion the effects of the pandemic.
Confirming the development, President, NAPPS, Lagos State chapter, Mr Amusa Olawale, said, “We facilitated the granting of FG N50bn palliative loans to 65 per cent of our members during the lockdown and just three weeks ago, we were credited,” he said.
EduCeleb.com understands that not all private schools are necessarily members of NAPPS.
Since late March, schools across the country had been shut to reduce the spread of the pandemic.
But that is about to change with the recent release of safety guidelines for schools ahead of resumption.
Already, Lagos State is billed to reopen its schools on 3rd August for students in terminal classes and Olawale explained how private schools are gearing up for that.
Speaking at a press briefing on Friday, the President, Olawale, explained that there was plan to ensure the conduct of the West Africa Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in September.
He said, “In the last meeting the South-West governors had with the commissioners for education, they are still working on how WASSCE would be conducted in September, because if these pupils don’t sit the exam, the 2020/2021 session will be seriously affected.”
He added that the Lagos State Ministry of Education had given them permission to resume so far the necessary health safety requirements were met.
“We had a meeting with the Director General, Quality Assurance, Lagos State Ministry of Education and we shall be resuming on August 3. We have been given clearance for reopening of schools but if a school does not have the requirements, they may not be allowed to resume. For this reason, we also set up NAPPS quality assurance committee to go round and ensure our members meet up with these requirements,” he explained.