Lagos govt reopens Chrisland school for terminal classes as PTA pleads

The Lagos State government has announced the reopening of the Opebi branch of Chrisland High School for physical learning ahead of the forthcoming terminal examinations.

This comes a few hours after the school's Parents Teachers Association appealed to the state government to halt the continuous closure of the school for the sake of over 500 students who are "being punished."

Recall that the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, had ordered the school to be shut down to allow for a proper investigation of the cause of death of a 12-year-old student, Whitney Adeniran.

Adeniran died during the school's inter-house sports event held at the Agege Stadium where she reportedly slumped and was rushed to a health centre where she was pronounced dead.

The governor, through the Ministry of Education, said the closure of the school would ensure an unhindered investigation and give all the stakeholders, including the parents, students, staff, and friends of the deceased time to grieve.

“In view of the circumstances surrounding the death of the child, the Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice ordered a coroner’s inquest into the matter to ascertain the cause," Sanwo-Olu said.

Frustrated by the indefinite closure, Chrisland PTA in a statement obtained by this writer on the evening of Monday, March 27, 2023, begged governor Sanwo-Olu to reopen the school to allow the students the opportunity to continue their studies.

The parents lamented that the continuous closure will jeopardize the educational trajectory of the "innocent students," especially those who "have terminal examinations as well as other external and international examinations to write in the coming days/weeks."

However, a statement by the state Commissioner for Education, Folasade Adefisayo, on Monday evening announced that the ministry has granted permission for students in terminal classes to access the Opebi branch of the school.

The ministry said this was to enable them to begin physical learning ahead of their examinations due to begin soon.