… Educates Participants on Production of Hand Sanitiser
The Permanent Secretary/Tutor-General, Education District 1, Barrister Titilayo Solarin has underscored the importance of involving school pupils in the series of sensitisation and awareness messages on the COVID19, saying that students are very critical in mobilising other sectors of the society for action.
Speaking during a sensitisation session on Coronavirus organised for stakeholders in Lagos State Education District 1, the Permanent Secretary said that the programme became necessary in view of the deadly disease which has assumed a pandemic status globally.
Solarin affirmed that since the first positive case was confirmed in Lagos, the State Government had initiated several measures to curtail the spread of the disease among residents.
She stated that the need to increase public awareness among relevant stakeholders in the education sector cannot be over-emphasised, especially among teachers and students who cannot do without having direct contact with their colleagues on a daily basis.
The exercise, according to her, is not only for the sensitisation of stakeholders but also to train participants on the production of hand sanitisers in order to make the product more accessible to students and assist in keeping the disease at bay.
Recalling that the State government had met with religious leaders and some other key groups in Lagos to further cascade the message down to their members and followers, the Permanent Secretary stated the need to extend the initiative to students so that they are more conscious of preventive measures required to stay safe.
In her words, “This becomes necessary considering the high rate of the susceptibility of our school children to this virus so they are well briefed and sensitised on the Dos and Don’ts of the infectious disease. Apart from this, we also rely on the students and other relevant stakeholders here to help cascade the message of personal hygiene to parents, neighbours and every resident of the State in a bid to get everyone enlightened”.
Speaking on the rationale behind the training session on the production of local hand sanitisers, the Tutor-General expressed the belief that being able to teach the participants on how to use and produce sanitisers would help address the looming scarcity of the product as well as reduce the cost of the few available ones.
“On our part, this sensitisation is a major step we are taking, in addition to teaching our students and stakeholders on the production of sanitisers to curb the spread of the virus and also to teach hygiene among our students because knowledge is power”, the Permanent Secretary stated.
On efforts being put in place across schools within the District, Solarin informed that all schools in District 1 now have basins, water, soap and sanitisers, saying that when students get to school, they must wash their hands and repeat same during and after the break session.
She added that students are a very viable vehicle for passing across information because they would not only make use of the information given but will also extend the information to others.
“When they are aware of a certain thing, they will go back home to tell their parents and everyone around them. So, with this exercise, I believe that participants are better informed and, as such, ignorance can no longer be the reason anyone here present will fall culprit of this virus”, Solarin stated.
