By Cinnatus Dumbuya
FREETOWN
Authorities in Ebola-hit Sierra Leone have decided to reopen schools as of March.
"We are planning to make sure our schools are safe and disinfected so that we can get back our children to schools," Minister of Education, Science and Technology Minkailu Bah told a high-level consultative meeting chaired by President Ernest Bai Koroma late Wednesday.
He asserted that his ministry is working towards the reopening of schools by March this year, according to a press release from the State House.
Bah said that the government will provide thermometers to all schools, including private schools, and train teachers on using them. It will also provide teaching and learning materials.
He added that the government, which is already subsidizing fees for girls, will extend it to boys in secondary schools in order to reduce the burden on parents.
Minister Bah said they have put together guidance notes and protocols, adding that sensor computers will be used in tertiary institutions.
Deputy Minister of Water Resources Alhaji Foday Bayoh, for his part, said they had developed a program called "Washing Schools" to provide water and sanitation to all schools.
In recent months, Ebola – a contagious disease for which there is no known treatment or cure – has killed 8,641 people, mostly in West Africa, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) report issued on Jan. 21.
In Sierra Leone alone, the virus has claimed a total of 3,145 lives to date.
