Yejide Gbenga – Ogundare
Parents of all Chrisland School units across the country under the auspices of the Parents Teachers Association (PTA), on Monday during a peaceful protest, cried out to the Lagos State government to open the school to allow students, especially those in Year 9 and Year 12, to write terminal external examinations.
The school had remained closed for over seven weeks following the unfortunate passing of one of the students of the school, Late Miss Whitney Adeniran, during the school’s inter-house sports competition.
The PTA had earlier written a letter to the Lagos State Government over the continuous closure of Chrisland High
School Ikeja, Lagos, passionately appealing for the reopening of the school for the sake of the over 500 innocent students who have been stranded at home since the closure of the school.
The parents pointed out that some of these students, especially those in Year 9 and Year 12, have terminal examinations as well as other external and international examinations to write in the coming days/weeks.
The PTA noted with regret that the school has remained shut even though the incident leading to the closure did not happen within the school premises in the first place.
“The PTA is also very much aware that a Coroner’s Inquest is currently ongoing regarding the matter therefore the continuous closure of the School in the face of an ongoing Coroner Inquest and other investigations on the matter defy logic.
“The PTA submits that it is morally unfair to make other innocent children suffer for what they know nothing about with the educational trajectory of most of them hanging in the balance and indeed, about to be completely jeopardised by the continuous closure of the school.
“Chrisland PTA hereby cries out in the interest of her children who are suffering great mental stress and disillusionment over the current state of impasse. It should be noted that a lot of these children require psychological intervention as most of them are still suffering from the emotional trauma of losing one of their fellow students and cannot understand why they are at the same time being punished by the Government for the same occurrence.
“The PTA has been offering moral support and empathy to the Adeniran family over this unfortunate and heartbreaking incident. While we continue to sympathize with the Adenirans and pray that God will continually uphold them.
“We call on His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to kindly and urgently consider the passionate appeal of all Chrisland parents and the cry of over 500 children who have sadly been grounded at home for upward of seven weeks now and reopen Chrisland High School Ikeja without further delay,” the parents stated.
Nigerian Tribune reports that consequent upon the parents’ peaceful dialogue with government on Monday, the Lagos State Government has approved a conditional reopening of the Ikeja campus of the school to students of terminal classes; JS3 and SS3 only to enable them to prepare for their up some examinations.
The government made this known in a letter dated March 27, 2023, with reference number MOE/HC/VOL.1/ 039 signed by the State Commissioner for Education, Folasade Adefisayo.
The letter further invited Chrisland Schools for a meeting at the conference room of the ministry on Thursday, March 30 at noon.
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