Queens College, Lagos

Queens College, Yaba, Lagos was closed since an outbreak of water borne disease led to the death of two pupils and over hundred others admitted at the school’s sick bay have resumed. However, it is only the Senior Secondary Students (SSS) 3 students who have because they are to sit for the West African School Certificate Examination (WASCE). Others are to resume later after all the problems have been fixed.

However, the SSS3 students will not stay in the school premises; they will come for lectures from outside. In other words, although the management of Queens College, Yaba, Lagos, has yielded to the demands by the Lagos State government and Unity Schools Old Student Association (USOSA) to stay action on its planned resumption, it only affects students from SSS2 downwards.

Lagos State Commissioner for Health Jide Idris, at a briefing last Thursday, advised that the resumption be delayed till appropriate measures have been put in place for the pupils’ safety.

But the Parents Teachers Association (PTA), according to a report by The Nation, described government’s position as “giving a dog a bad name in order to hang it”, saying there was no going back on the resumption. PTA Chairman Dr John Ofobike was quoted at a briefing at the weekend that there was no cause for alarm as all necessary measures are in place ahead of resumption.

Meanwhile, the school, according to a source, has been solving the problems that caused the closure in the first place. The bad borehole has been blocked while water from the remaining boreholes have been treated with chlorine and taken for test at the Ministry of Health, Lagos. Moreover, the water tanks have also been changed.

A parent, Kareem Babalola, was quoted in the report that: “My (daughter’s) case was severe. I think I was even the first to raise the alarm over the health issue. One of my daughters in JSS1 was seriously ill; she was rejected by three hospitals.

“Finally, she was admitted in LASUTH. I spent over a million naira to treat her. She was admitted for a month. I am just grateful to God that she’s fine and healthy now.”