As part of its efforts to mitigate the impact of the elimination of fuel subsidies, the Edo State Government has cut school days to three times per week.
The Chairperson of the Edo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) Ozavize Salami said this in Benin City on Friday after a meeting between the state’s Head of Service Anthony Okungbowa and other government officials.
The purpose of Friday’s discussion was to discuss the government’s mandate that public and civil workers work three times a week once the subsidy was removed.
“For the three-day work week, we tried to cluster the school learning days into the first three days of the week. We did not want any gaps for administrative reasons. So, children will come on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in all basic education schools across the state,” she noted.
She said the government has already put out modalities to meet up with the school curriculum.
“What we have done also is that we’ve extended the learning time by one hour in primary schools and two hours in junior secondary schools to ensure that the term’s curriculum is achieved,” the SUBEB boss noted.
“So, we have taken the timetable for Thursday and Friday and integrated it into the timetable for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.”
On his part, the Head of Service explained that while public and civil servants are to work thrice a week, government offices will be opened throughout the week for services.
According to him, workers not on duty will operate remotely.
Edo State is not the only place where the government has taken steps to cushion the impact of the subsidy removal.
Kwara State has also declared a three-day working week for public and civil servants as Nigerians battle a hike in the price of petroleum.
Organised labour is also pushing for the increase of minimum wage and the provision of palliatives to reduce the impact of the removal.