Assessment of Schools’ Reopening after COVID-19 Closures

Abstract

The study assessed principals’ compliance with Federal Ministry of Education guidelines on schools and learning facilities reopening after COVID-19 closures in South-East Nigeria. One research question guided the study. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised 1,378 principals in 1,378 public secondary schools in south east, Nigeria. A sample size of 689 principals was drawn for the study using multi-stage sampling procedure. The instrument titled ‘‘Federal of Ministry of Education Joint Assessment Checklist for Safe Reopening of Schools and Learning Facilities (FMEJACSRSLF)’’ was utilized for data collection. The instrument was duly validated by three experts and using Cronbach alpha method for test of internal consistency, reliability index of 0.81 was obtained. Data collected were analyzed using arithmetic mean and standard deviation. The results of the study revealed among other that principals’ comply with Federal Ministry of Education guidelines on schools and learning facilities reopening after COVID-19 closures in South-East Nigeria to a great extent. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that the State Ministry of Education should ensure that at least two qualified health personnel are employed and posted on full time basis to man each of the secondary schools to provide services to contain and minimize the spread of the virus.