After six months and 3,800 Ebola deaths, Liberian schools reopen

Students in Liberia began returning to the classroom Monday after a six-month closure during the Ebola epidemic that left thousands dead, lining up in their uniforms to have their temperatures taken before they could enter school gates. Pupils who trickled in to Saint Michael High School on the outskirts of the capital also washed their hands with chlorinated water before going inside. ”I feel happy to come to school today because for so long I have not seen my friends,” Albert Kollie, 18, told The Associated Press. “I am very happy to be counted among the living and I pray that Ebola be eradicated from this country.”

We will be afraid to touch each other in class, some colleagues will be afraid to come around.

High school junior Eric Blackie

Many students said they had grown tired of sitting at home, and at least one principal said teenage pregnancy had spiked during the six-month school gap. A few, though, remained a bit fearful about returning even though there are just a handful of Ebola cases left in the country that once saw 100 new patients a week. Deputy Education Minister Remses Kumbuyah said more than 5,000 kits were distributed to schools that included thermometers and chlorine for hand-washing. He said: “We are asking all the school administrators to ensure that a classroom should not have more than 45 or 50 students.”

Health Liberia schools