In the face of this pandemic, the management of Federal College of Education, Abeokuta has not been so receptive of the students' concerns but they are opening all the halls of residence to allow hostelites to pack their belongings that was left behind since the school was closed on 20th March, 2020.

Entrance to the campus has been severely restricted and this unforeseen lockdown has disrupted the students' routines. Most, if not all, of the students had difficulty adjusting to living at home because they left the school luggageless with overwhelming fear and panic.

The spread of the coronavirus initially spared FCE Abeokuta, like many other Nigerian schools with zero recorded case. This luck, however, did not last as it was reported on July 3rd, 2020 that the management shut down the institution for two weeks after a medical worker at the College's Medical Centre died of COVID-19 complications while two other workers in the same department equally tested positive for the virus.

This sad event served as a dent to everyone's hope of getting back to normal life in Osiele and it's environ. It culminated with the sharp increase in the reported cases of the novel virus across the country and resulted in the general assumption that school resumption will not be anytime soon.

The opening of Hall 1, Hall 2, Hall 3, Hall 4 and CEDEP hostel for few weeks came after an outcry of limited access to clothes, materials and other learning tools but catering for students welfarism is beyond lifting of veil on the most important of the less important things in the student's life.

COVID-19 pandemic has revolutionized digital and online education nationwide but lecturers and students in Federal College of Education, Abeokuta are being left behind as they are not equipped to adapt or transition to the new methods of teaching and learning.

Unlike other institutions, the Registrar's school-closure directive did not come with any clear-cut policy measures on how to mitigate learning disruptions for students or how to address the digital divide.

It follows that the students' concerns are not paramount to the decision makers at this time as there is no well-documented response and objective strategy to mitigate the negative impact of school closures on both NCE and Degree students of Federal College of Education, Abeokuta.

While the management's efforts in the health and economic sectors must be commended, ignoring the student-oriented sector would be disastrous. As emphasised by UNESCO, temporary school closures (now looking like permanent) come with high costs, with severe impact on students.

Considering the stance of the school management, pertinent questions arose: How come the premier citadel of learning in Ogun State doesn't have the basic resources to cater for just few thousands of students affected? How come the lecturers with uninterrupted paychecks doesn't have the simplest technology to deliver live lessons or record a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) styled lessons?

Please, stay safe

Olamide O. Abe (Editor-in-chief of The Academia Campus Journalists)

Yenyenyen