Government should Act Now

The issue concerning the reopening of schools as announced by the Government of Liberia since the so-called down trimming of the Ebola virus is raising serious concern in every quarter of our society.

The closure of schools has resulted to children of school going ages scattering all over the various streets and communities selling markets while some are gambling to make living beyond the closure of schools.

Though many parents have been complaining that the closure of schools was not in the interest of the society and children who are the future leaders of the country.
Nevertheless, the closure of schools has the tendency of hampering children who are considered the future leaders of the country.

We observe that up till now the government has not acted to show that indeed it is ready for the reopening of schools.
There has not been any first step taken such as providing proper hygienic condition under which students will be protected on their campuses.

Indeed the government is not showing any sign of responsibility in advancing health and sanitation measures that would protect children from serious Ebola hazard. Neither has she shown some sort of readiness that would encourage parents to know that their children would be under safe atmosphere in the midst of Ebola while in school.

We at Focus Newspaper would like to call on the Government of Liberia to create a condition in all schools by providing serious healthcare delivery services.

We also recommend that government should closely inspect and monitor all toilets and hand washing facilities of both the public and private schools to suit the reopening process.

An Ebola preventive measure should be taught as part of the school curriculum on a daily basis to create awareness for children.

A health practitioner must be assigned at the gate of every school to closely monitor the activities of students. With these measures, it will help to remove the fear of having more Ebola cases when schools are reopened.