By Bill W. Cooper
The principal/proprietor of the Haywood Mission High School, Rev. Dr. Leo Simpson has once again criticized the Minister of Education, Ansu Sonii and his deputies for their failure to provide COVID-19 hygienic materials and handouts/guidelines to various schools for the safety and well-being of students.
Speaking to this paper in an exclusive interview at his Haywood office on the Old-Road, Rev. Dr. Simpson said that he is not impressed about the reopening of schools by the MoE because the Minister of Education and his staff, in collaboration with the MoH are yet to give both public and private the much talked about guidelines as was done during the time of the EBOLA epidemic.
According Rev. Dr. Simpson, it is very unthinkable and unimaginable the way the MoE and health authorities are handling the process, indicating that it was at the eleventh hour, the MoE along with the MoH organized a meeting with some school principals within the Monrovia environs.
He noted that Monrovia is not Liberia though it is accommodating more schools, and stressed, “It was also alarming to have over 500 persons crowded together without observing social distancing and did not give them any handouts like during the time of the EBOLA crisis.”
The Haywood principal intoned that it is also a miscalculation by the government to use social media as a medium to disseminate information owing to the fact that not much citizens use the social media platform, emphasizing, “Thankfully, my institution has everything in place as requested by the ministry and my students are adhering to the various health protocols.”
“This present Minister of Education is not really serving the interest of the masses of our students. Prior to their meeting, I had three meetings with my staff and presented to them the COVID-19 guidelines as well as to both students and their parents. If we can do it, I expect the MoE to do same but not at all,” he said.