The Federal Government on Thursday ordered all Federal Civil Servants to resume work on Monday, October 19, 2020.
Before now only civil servants on grade level 12 and above were reporting for work.
But the PTF on Thursday said civil servants below level 12 could resume work on Monday.
The National Assembly on Friday postponed resumption of plenary sessions by two weeks.
The Acting Clerk to the National Assembly, Arc. Olatunde Ojo, in a statement in Abuja, said lawmakers would now resume on Tuesday 29th September, 2020.
It will be recalled that the Senate and the House of Representatives had on Thursday July 23, 2020 adjourned plenary sessions to Tuesday, September 15, 2020, to enable lawmakers observe their annual vacation.
Ojo however did not give any reason for rescheduling the resumption date in his statement.
The statement reads: “This is to inform all Distinguished Senators and Honourable members of the National Assembly that the resumption of plenary session earlier scheduled for Tuesday, 15th September, 2020 is hereby rescheduled for Tuesday 29th September, 2020.
“We regret any inconvenience caused by this change of date.”
All students except those in tertiary institutions have been given an automatic promotion to the next class by the Ogun State Government which announced September 21 for the reopening of schools in the state for the first term of 2020/2021 session.
The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Kunle Somorin, made the announcement in a statement on Monday.
This is in addition to the earlier resumption of students in exit classes.
According to Mr Somorin, the State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, approved the reopening of schools for all classes in primary and secondary schools, Technical and Vocational Colleges, and Tertiary Institutions.
He noted that a resumption schedule for public schools has been developed as part of efforts to meet the COVID-19 guidelines.
Students in primary one to three will attend classes from 8.00 am to 11.00 am, while pupils in primary four to six will learn from 12 noon to 3:00 pm.
In secondary schools, students in JSS 1 to JSS 3 are to attend classes from 8.00 am to 11.00 am and students in senior classes will be in school from mid-day through to 3:00 pm.
However, the CPS noted that technical and vocational colleges will operate their normal school hours of 8.00 am to 2.00 pm, while tertiary institutions are “allowed to commence reopening from 21 September 2020 as may be determined by their respective management.”
The Governor’s spokesman added that private schools are expected to take necessary measures to meet the COVID-19 protocols for physical distancing, among other requirements.
He stated that students between the ages of 3 to 5 will not be resuming in public schools until the next phase of schools’ reopening.
“It should be noted that the government had earlier announced that all students had been given an automatic promotion to the next class, including automatic placement for primary 6 students in public primary schools into JSS1 of public secondary schools.
“However, primary 6 students desirous of placement into the State-owned Boarding Schools will sit for the Common Entrance Examination on Saturday, 12 September 2020,” the statement read in part.
“The hitherto JSS3 students who have now been promoted to SS1 will write their Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in October 2020.”
Mr Somorin noted that part of the COVID-19 guidelines issued for reopening of schools is still in effect because the management of the virus has been deliberate in ensuring safety for children while minimising the disruption in the school learning calendar.
Read the full statement below:
The Ogun State Government has announced Monday, 21 September 2020 for the reopening of schools in the state for the first term of 2020/2021 session in addition to the earlier resumption of students in SS3 who are currently writing the West African School Certificate Examination.
In a Press Statement issued in Abeokuta by Kunle Somorin, his Chief Press Secretary, Governor Dapo Abiodun announced that this second phase of the reopening of schools is extended to all classes in primary and secondary schools, Technical and Vocational Colleges, and Tertiary Institutions. However, as part of the efforts to meet the COVID-19 guidelines for school operations, the school hours are staggered as follows for public schools.
Early Child Care Development and Education classes i.e 3-5 years of age will not be resuming in public schools until the next phase of schools’ reopening.
It should be noted that the government had earlier announced that all students had been given an automatic promotion to the next class, including automatic placement for primary 6 students in public primary schools into JSS1 of public secondary schools.
However, primary 6 students desirous of placement into the State-owned Boarding Schools will sit for the Common Entrance Examination on Saturday, 12 September 2020.
The hitherto JSS3 students who have now been promoted to SS1 will write their Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in October 2020.
The Statement emphasised that the COVID-19 guidelines earlier issued for reopening of schools are still in effect and include:
“Our approach to COVID-19 pandemic management has been deliberate, methodical, focused, inclusive and carefully balanced between life and livelihood and this has manifested in the steps we have adopted to the reopening of schools, ensuring the safety of our children whilst minimising disruption in their education. The guidelines are applicable to all schools in the state whether private or public.
I have directed the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology to provide all public schools with the required items to meet the guidelines and private school owners are enjoined to do the same.
I charge our students to take full benefits of the reopening of the schools for their educational advancement and wish them a very fulfilling 2020/2021 academic year”, the Governor said.
e-signed
Kunle Somorin
Chief Press Secretary to the Governor
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Saturday ordered tertiary institutions in Lagos to reopen from September 14 while primary and secondary schools in the state will reopen on September 21, 2020.
Details later…
Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has announced that the Abuja-Kaduna rail service would resume on Wednesday, July 29, 2020.
Amaechi disclosed this on Saturday while test-running the 10 new coaches recently deployed on the route.
According to the Minister, there have been pressure from several quarters to resume the railway service before Sallah with all COVID-19 safety protocols and guidelines by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC and the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 in place.
Abuja-Kaduna train service will resume operations on Wednesday.
We just conducted inspection of the new coaches on the Abuja-Kaduna rail line. Social distancing is set as the new normal with end to end sitting arrangement. pic.twitter.com/TtTrx0vCdO
— Chibuike R. Amaechi (@ChibuikeAmaechi) July 25, 2020
”We will resume the Abuja-Kaduna train service on Wednesday, July 29,” he said.
On the fare, Amaechi said after due considerations, President Muhammadu Buhari has agreed that changes should be made.
He said the fare for the economy class was reviewed to N3,000 and the Business class to N6,000 because of the reduced number of passengers that would be on the train.
Amaechi had stated earlier that passengers who did not comply with the regulations would not be allowed on the trains.
After weeks of wrangling, with several U-turns on the way, Italy is due to decide on Thursday if and when its top-flight Serie A football league can resume after the coronavirus stoppage.
Possibly encouraged by seeing how Germany’s Bundesliga has restarted without problems so far, the Italian government appears to have relaxed its position recently.
Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora says the most likely outcome is a restart on June 13 or June 20.
He is due to meet the head of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) Gabriele Gravina ahead of the announcement.
But only last month, Spadafaro had warned that Serie A could go the same way as its French counterpart Ligue 1 and be called off.
It was a comment he said had led him to be painted as “the enemy of football”.
“France’s decision would have been the easiest one to make. I didn’t want to do it. I just found it shameful that I was being asked to decide on Serie A’s resumption at a time when the country was short of beds in intensive care,” the minister had said.
“It is right that football can start again now that the rest of the country is starting again.”
Serie A’s 20 clubs have voted unanimously in favour of a restart, although some appear more enthusiastic than others.
Lazio, who were on a 21-match unbeaten league run before Serie A was suspended and are one point behind leaders Juventus, are raring to go.
But others such as bottom side Brescia seem less keen.
Brescia at one point threatened to forfeit matches if Serie A resumed and they were the last club to resume training.
One of the stumbling blocks to a league resumption was the government’s insistence that if a player tested positive for the coronavirus, the whole squad would have to be quarantined.
But this has since been dropped.
Teams will however still be subject to strict measures, similar to those adopted by the Bundesliga.
There will be no mascots, handshakes or team photographs before matches, children will not accompany teams onto the field and a maximum of 300 people will be allowed in the stadium.
When travelling by road, squads will have to be spread between two buses and will be encouraged to use charter flights when flying.
The players’ union is concerned about plans to stage some matches at 1630 local time in the summer months while referees are hoping for more respect.
“Was the coronavirus needed to say that players should keep their distance from the referee when they protest?,” asked Marcello Nicchi, head of the Italian referees’ association.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) and European soccer governing-body, UEFA, are seemingly now at loggerheads over the resumption of football amid on-going battle to contain the scourge of Coronavirus.
According to Italian paper La Repubblica, the WHO have reportedly called for all football to be suspended until the end of next season – 2021.
It is understood that the organisation would prefer all matches to be axed until at least the end of next season, in 18 months’ time.
WHO are said to be considering all possible scenarios, but are concerned about causing a second wave of the pandemic.
A lengthy suspension could plunge a huge number of clubs into financial instability due to the lack of matchday income.
Teams across the world have already called on their players to take a pay cut to help ease their cash woes.
But UEFA has categorically denied that the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended to them this week that all international competition should be suspended until the end of 2021.
The governing body have been discussing with their 55 member associations a range of issues that are affecting football including the restructuring of the football calendar.
A UEFA spokesperson said: “This is not correct. WHO never recommended that football should no longer be played until the end of 2021.”
The WHO is acting as the lead United Nations (UN) body that advises a number of sporting federations during the Coronavirus pandemic.
The Federal Government has disowned a social media post, which stated that primary and secondary schools nationwide would be resuming by November 2020 as a result of the spread of coronavirus pandemic.
The government also declared a manhunt for the author of the fake press release, which was circulating on the social media on Wednesday.
In a statement in Abuja, the Director of Press, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr Ben Goong, urged Nigerians to disregard the fake notice, saying that the author was believed to be mentally unstable.
Goong explained that the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, could not have signed a press release where the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Sonny Echono, granted an interview to a reporter from an online medium, as stated in the fake release.
The ministry’s spokesman reiterated the release calling for schools to resume by November 2020 as a result of the pandemic spread was fake and should be disregarded.
It reads: “The Federal Ministry of Education has disowned a press release circulating on multiple social media platforms insinuating that schools will reopen in November 2020, describing the release as the handiwork of an illiterate, who, going by the content of his release also appears to be mental.
“The ministry is asking parents, students and the general public to disregard the release in its entirety, adding that there is no iota of truth about the release. Efforts are on to track the author, and he or she will be prosecuted.
“We could have ignored the release but for the massive calls from our education correspondents, parents and other stakeholders expressing concerns.”
The Lagos State Government has said that all public and private schools in the state must resume for the first term of the 2019/2020 academic session on Monday.
It said that by so doing, they would be adhering to the Uniform School Calendar approved by the state government.
This is contained in a statement released on Friday by Mr Kayode Sutton of the the Public Affairs department in the state’s Ministry of Education and made available to newsmen in Lagos.
According to the statement, the Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Folashade Adefisayo, said that the adoption of a uniform academic calendar will enable proper planning and organisation by the Ministry.
She said that it would also afford the pupils and the students the opportunities to attend schools for the number of days required by them in each term.
Adefisayo also commended the concerted efforts of the teachers (teaching and non-teaching) toward preparing their pupils for the commencement of a new academic session.
She said that the state government would not relent in its commitment toward capacity building/training of the teaching staff, their welfare and reward for excellence.
The commissioner also advised the pupils and students to report to their schools on the date the government had stipulated in the uniform academic calendar.
She also advised all students in the state to devote more time to their studies on resumption of classes.
She advised them to shun all vices, including internet fraud, thuggery, hooliganism, rape, examination malpractice, alcoholism, drug abuse and cultism.
The commissioner urged parents and guardians of pupils and wards to remember that the administration of Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, would focus on improving education in the state.
The commissioner added that the government would continue to do everything possible to improve on teaching and learning in all public schools.
The commissioner said that the state government would not be happy with any private schools that would violate the approved uniform resumption date for schools in the state.
She warned that any private schools found to have breached the rules would be sanctioned accordingly.