Four days into schools resumption after a break due to the coronavirus pandemic, some students of a private school in Obili, Yaounde, returned home during school hours saying they had been driven by their principal because they had hand sanitizers of doubtful quality.

According to these students of Faith Comprehensive High School, they were in class when the principal walked in and asked some of them to go home because the hand sanitizers which they had were of doubtful quality. “He even asked some of us whose hand sanitizers were almost finished to go home saying we should go and buy those sanitizers sold at 1500FCFA.” One of them said.

“My mother bought this hand sanitizer from the pharmacy. I don’t know why the principal had to send me home because he thinks my hand sanitizer is not good enough”. One of them, an uppersixth student told Insight24 while showing his sanitizer.

In an interview with the manager of the said institution, Atingwa Desmond, Insight24 gathered that these students might have given out misleading information.

“I want to debunk any information that you have from students talking about the quality of hand sanitizers. We don’t test the quality of hand sanitizers and we do not sell hand sanitizers in school. The students are expected to bring their hand sanitizers as well as their face masks. We state categorically that there’s no child that has been sent out of class because of hand sanitizers. The school has made available hand sanitizers that students who do not have personal hand sanitizers can use the sanitizers made available by the institution.” Atingwa told Insight24.

He added that students can only be driven for face masks which the school cannot provide for them. “We made available face masks only to the teachers because we cannot afford to give face masks to all the students.”

Faith Comprehensive High School like many others in the town of Yaounde, have been ensuring that teachers and students alike respect all the WHO measures put in place to combat the coronavirus pandemic. These include amongst others, washing of hands with soap and running water, using alcoholic based hand sanitizers, respecting social distancing and wearing of face masks.

As pupils and students in examination classes all over Cameroon resumed schooling on Monday June 1st, they have been trying to cope amidst the barrier measures put in place to combat the coronavirus pandemic. Aside the difficulty in wearing a face mask from morning to afternoon, these students are afters faced with the challenge of purchasing these face masks and hand sanitizers. It is hoped that the government continues to assist them after loss they try to round off with this academic year.

By Moma Sandrine