By SEKYEN WALSHAK
September is an important month on Nigeria’s academic calendar. It is the period when pupils and students return to their classrooms after the long vacation to begin a new academic session, while parents prepare their children and schools make arrangements to receive returning students.
Plateau State is no exception to this annual academic cycle. Most nursery, primary and secondary schools vacated for the 2025/2026 academic session in August and were preparing to commence the 2026/2027 academic session.
However, the circumstances under which schools are expected to reopen have changed, following the recent outbreak of diphtheria in Plateau State, particularly in Jos North, Wase, Jos South and Bassa local government areas.
Against this background, the decision by the Plateau State Government to temporarily close all public and private primary and secondary schools is not only understandable but necessary.
The directive, announced on Saturday, September 5, takes effect from Monday, September 7, 2026, and should be seen as a precautionary measure aimed at protecting pupils, students, teachers and other members of the school community.
This is not a decision against education. Rather, it is a decision to protect the lives of the very children whose education we are trying to preserve.
The school environment brings together children from different locations and communities every day, making schools particularly vulnerable to the spread of contagious diseases. With an outbreak already reported in the state, some children, teachers or other members of the school community could unknowingly be carrying the disease.
Once schools reopen, pupils and students will come into close contact with one another for several hours each day, potentially increasing the risk of transmission through respiratory droplets from coughing and sneezing or through close contact with an infected person.
This is why the government’s decision to temporarily suspend academic activities deserves public support. It provides health authorities with valuable time to assess the situation, strengthen preventive measures, identify suspected cases and reduce the possibility of transmission within school communities.
Children may not always be able to recognise or properly communicate early symptoms of illness. If symptoms are not identified promptly, they could easily be mistaken for common flu or catarrh, particularly during a period when Plateau State experiences cold weather and persistent rainfall.
The consequences of ignoring the situation could be far more damaging than temporarily delaying the reopening of schools.
Rather than viewing the closure as an interruption to education, parents, school owners, teachers and other stakeholders should see it as a necessary window for the government and health authorities to put adequate safety measures in place before children return to their classrooms.
The state government should use this period to strengthen collaboration between the ministries of health and education and other relevant agencies. The temporary closure should not merely be about keeping children away from school; it should also be used to intensify disease surveillance, prevention, vaccination, public awareness and preparedness.
Second, the government should work with all school authorities, both public and private, to ensure that appropriate vaccines are made available to eligible pupils and students. Adequate training and guidance should also be provided to teachers and school authorities on vaccination, prevention, early recognition of symptoms and the appropriate steps to take when a suspected case is identified.
Third, because diphtheria is a respiratory and contagious disease, appropriate isolation and treatment facilities should be made available for suspected and confirmed cases. Infected persons should receive prompt medical attention and remain under appropriate care until qualified medical personnel determine that they are no longer a risk to others.
There must also be a clear communication channel between health authorities, schools and parents. This will ensure that suspected cases are identified and reported promptly rather than allowing the disease to spread silently within school communities.
The responsibility, however, does not rest entirely with government. Residents of Plateau State also have an important role to play in containing the outbreak.
They should observe personal hygiene by washing their hands regularly, avoiding unnecessary close contact with people showing symptoms of respiratory illness, using protective nose masks in crowded public places where appropriate, seeking medical attention when symptoms occur and taking advantage of vaccination opportunities when made available by health authorities. They should also avoid overcrowded places as much as possible.
School owners and administrators must equally cooperate fully with government directives. The temporary closure should not be used as an excuse to abandon health and safety responsibilities. Instead, schools should use the period to review their health protocols and prepare for a safer reopening.
The government must understand that this is not a situation in which precaution should be considered an overreaction. When dealing with a contagious disease, prevention is better than waiting for the situation to develop into a full-blown crisis.
Yes, education is important. Yes, children have a right to education. But they also have a right to life and to a safe learning environment.
The temporary closure of schools by the Plateau State Government should, therefore, not be viewed as an attempt to undermine education. Rather, it should be seen as a precautionary step to protect lives, contain the outbreak and create a safer environment for pupils, students and teachers to return to when health authorities consider it safe to do so.
At the same time, the government must ensure that the closure does not become open-ended. Parents and school authorities deserve clear and regular updates on the situation, while every effort should be made to ensure that academic activities resume as soon as health authorities determine that it is medically safe to do so.
The temporary closure may disrupt the academic calendar, but when confronting a disease outbreak involving children and communities, caution is the responsible course of action.
Remember, the classroom can wait. But a child’s life cannot.