After seven months at home, second-year students in senior and junior high schools returned to school on Wednesday.
Of course, parents and Gambians in general were excited at the development which followed the easing of restrictions imposed by the President in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
At the time the decision was taken to shut down schools, it was the best step taken following on the heels of similar actions worldwide.
We cannot afford not to express gratitude to the Almighty Allah who listened to our prayers and imbued political leadership with the necessary and relevant wisdom on how to steer the ship of state on such choppy waters.
The days when the pandemic statistics was rising anxiety was etched on the faces of Gambians making some of them vulnerable to the lying tongues of some political actors.
They churned out toxic remarks in their bid to make government look helpless and incapable of managing the situation.
Political leadership maintained its cool and worked with local scientists and listened to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Today, we understand the coronavirus better than we did yesterday vis-a-vis Gambian propelled fake news. Today, we understand the ruse in the creation of a parallel Covid-19 committee by ordinary Gambian.
In spite of the politicization of the subject, government remained focused, the positive outcome of which is what we are deservingly relishing today in the form of a manageable Covid-19 situation.
Today, even as the clouds begin to clear, we remain somewhat in uncharted waters, a situation which therefore calls for continuous vigilance as part of a new normal world.
We cannot afford to stand down our guard because the disease we are confronted with on a global scale is deadly and which we are still learning about.
The decision to reopen the school gates to our children even when the World Health Organisation (WHO) is yet to give the all-clear signal was, of course, based on science and data.
Constant monitoring cannot be overemphasized at this time when the children have just returned.
In view of the declining rate of the infection in the country, especially in the epicentre, Serekunda, it has led to rising protocol breaches by many residents.
Teachers of reopened schools cannot afford to be reckless because children are in their care. Strict application of Covid-19 protocols should be the norm in all schools across the country.
We cannot rule out breaches occasionally but these should be stemmed without delay and those responsible sanctioned.
We call for the establishment of joint Gambia Health Service/Gambia Education Service teams to monitor the schools with a view to ensuring that the protocols are observed.
Should those engulfed in unbridled obsession with political power jump into the limited schools reopening with concocted tales, let us ignore them and keep our eyes on the children.
The reopened schools should be spared the toxic politics of Gambian.
