The Rector of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN), Oron, Commodore Duja Effedua(Rtd), directed on Saturday in Abuja that all graduating students of the academy should resume on Oct. 28, while other Cadets would resume Jan. 2, 2021.
According to him, the Coronavirus(COVID-19) pandemic did not affect the academic session of the academy as students were able to write examinations and hold 20 online classes simultaneously in different courses.
He said this was possible due to the good ICT team in the school.
The Rector noted that before the pandemic, the Cadets were already equipped and engaged in online lectures for distance learning with the Nautical and IMarEST institute, both in the UK.
“We are the first to start online lectures. We were able to hold 20 classes simultaneously in various courses.
“Their exams were done online, we have a good ICT team so COVID-19 didn’t disturb our academic session, because before now, they have always had online lectures for distance learning and they are well equipped.
“Every Cadet has a laptop. All the Staff, both academic and non-academic, are to resume on Oct. 23 to prepare for the resumption of Cadets in the graduating class which will be on Oct. 28, while lectures would resume on Nov.2.
“The Junior Cadets will continue online lectures and resume Jan. 2, 2021 for physical lectures.
“We have put all Ministry of Education and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) guidelines into place. We are issuing four KM95 nose masks to each Cadet and a hand sanitiser.
“Any Cadet who resumes will not go back home until they graduate in December, to avoid contamination from the virus, except on medical grounds,’’ the Rector said.
According to Effedua, the management has set up a task force, to be headed by the HOD Medical, to monitor and ensure that NCDC guidelines are effectively enforced during the session.
He said that as part of efforts to continue to improve services in the academy, a simulator would be installed in two weeks at the academy and inaugurated soon.
The Rector added that all things being equal, it would be commissioned in December.
