Côte d’Ivoire yesterday became the first country in West Africa to reopen schools since the easing of restrictions imposed in response to the novel coronavirus disease.
Officials of the Ivorian Ministry of Education believe they have put in place sufficiently rigorous preventive measures to avoid the disease spreading among students.
Local news reports described students in many towns yesterday carrying backpacks and trooping back to school: a typical sight of the French rentrée, or return to school. The students were made to queue and wash their hands under the supervision of teachers before being allowed entry.
Clean pair of hands
Schools made arrangements for their students to sit one to a desk and supplied a bottle of hand sanitiser for each.
Ivorian education officials told journalists they are confident that the students can study together in safety.
Public health bodies have introduced further measures to ensure that they contain the spread of the pandemic.
Côte d’Ivoire, the world largest producer of cocoa, has so far recorded and confirmed 2,423 cases of the coronavirus disease. Its first case emerged on 11 March, a day before Ghana, involving an Ivorian national recently returned from Italy.
One thousand two hundred and fifty-seven people in Côte d’Ivoire have recovered from COVID-19 and there have been 30 deaths.
Precedent
It is not clear whether other countries in West Africa will be in a hurry to follow Côte d’Ivoire’s example.
Most schools in the private sector in Ghana have switched to virtual classes over the past few weeks, with various payment plans for students.
However, for now, students in Ghanaian state-run schools have been left to their fate. There has been no official communication on how the state intends that they spend their final term, which started a few weeks ago.
Fred Dzakpata
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