Owing to the continued observance of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Monday-sit-at-home directive despite its suspension over two months ago, schools in some parts of Enugu State have begun adjusting their working hours to make up for the ones lost in the sit-at-home lockdowns.
Abeya News reports that some schools in Enugu North Senatorial zone have adjusted to closing at 3 pm instead of 2 pm on normal days, while the extramural or ‘lesson’ hours now start from 3:30 pm instead of 3 pm.
At St. Joseph’s College, Army Barracks, Nsukka, a popular school in the area, the principal, Mr. John Ugwuoke said this had become necessary “so as to make up for the lost grounds.”
He said, “You know as much as I do that Monday is no longer part of the weekdays as far as this zone is concerned. This is because of the sit-at-home order by the IPOB.
“For this reason, we have to find a way of cushioning its negative effects on academics. That’s why as I speak with you now, we close at 3 pm instead of 2 pm.”
When pressed on when this new change would end, Mr Ugwuoke said that “as soon normalcy returns, we will revert to the normal closing time.”
At City College, Orba road, Nsukka, the principal, Mr Raymond Eze said “This has become a child of necessity to avoid the collapse of education system. We are not finding it funny any longer.
“Imagine the fact that we complain that time is not enough for us to cover all the subjects for the term; now are being bedeviled by this sit-at-home order.
“We are not happy and comfortable with the current situation but since we can’t do anything about it, we have to adjust ourselves. ”
Some other schools such as Choice Comprehensive College, Ohodo, Igbo-Etiti are considering including Saturdays as school days to cover lost grounds.
“If this situation continues without serious measures to curb it, we may resort to coming to school on Saturdays,” the principal, Mr Diugwu said
He added, “Even though IPOB denied the Monday sit-at-home order, fear of the unknown has not let us operate on Mondays. So, apart from closing late at 3:30 pm, we are currently thinking of operating on Saturdays.”
It can be recalled that Anambra state earlier this week adopted Saturday as a school day to cushion the effect of the Mondays’ sit-at-home on the educational curriculum.
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