By Alpha Khadri
FREETOWN
Schools in Sierra Leone reopened on Tuesday after an almost yearlong hiatus as a result of the Ebola outbreak, which has killed thousands of people in the West African country.
Many students were seen walking to school with smiles on their faces, according to an Anadolu Agency reporter.
But in many areas, student turnout was relatively low, as some schools in the provinces had not been properly sanitized to accommodate returning students.
At Gberray Junction, a village located outside capital Freetown, students could be seen cleaning the school campus themselves.
Kadiatu Kamara, a single parent from Masiaka, situated some 40 miles from Freetown, told AA that until health personnel were deployed in schools and other health mechanisms put in place, she would not send her four-year-old daughter back to school.
The Education Ministry had earlier distributed disinfectants and cleaning kits to schools, which had been used as Ebola holding and treatment centers.
But one school official in the northern city of Makeni, who requested anonymity, said she had only received nine hand-washing buckets in a school of over 3,000 students.
Hand washing and regular temperature checks have been recommended at all schools.
Authorities had earlier decided to reopen schools in March.
The government had promised to provide thermometers to all schools, including private schools, and train teachers on how to use them.
It was also supposed to have put together guidance notes and protocols, promising to use sensor computers in tertiary institutions.
Since last year, Ebola – a contagious disease for which there is no known treatment or cure – has killed 10,587 people, mostly in West Africa, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) report issued on April 8.
In Sierra Leone alone, the virus has claimed a total of 3,831 lives to date.
