The Osun Government says Sept. 21 has been tentatively fixed for the reopening of schools shut down due to coronavirus pandemic in the state

The Commissioner for Information and Civic, Mrs Funke Egbemode made this known in a statement in Osogbo on Tuesday.

Egbemode said stakeholders were expected to continue to put protocols in place toward the reopening of schools.

“This should be in accordance with the guidelines set by the Federal Ministry of Education,’’ she said.

The commissioner also said that all schools in the state were to resume in phases with effect from Sept. 21, for an abridged third term of the 2019/2020 academic session.

“Having conducted an assessment of schools within the state to ascertain the level of preparations for reopening, the government has scheduled schools to resume from the COVID-19 break on Sept. 21 for an abridged third term of the 2019/2020 academic session, which is expected to end on October 30, 2020.

“To make up for lost grounds caused by the COVID-19 induced lockdown, a new academic session (2020/2021 session) is scheduled to commence on Nov. 9.

“Because of the Yuletide, schools will be expected to take a brief recess from Dec. 24, to resume on Jan. 4, 2021, for the concluding part of the first term of the new session which is scheduled to end Jan. 22, 2021.

“The resumption date for the second term is set for Feb. 1, and scheduled to end April 9, 2021.

“The third term of that session commences on April 26, and runs till July 23,’’ she said.

Egbemode explained that the announced schedule applies only to primary and secondary schools, adding that tertiary institutions were also expected to reopen on Sept. 21, but required to plan their schedules.

She said stakeholders were to continue to fine tune their preparations in the coming days toward ensuring a seamless enforcement of the announced schedule.