STM Article Repository

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the prolonged economic lockdown to limit the spread of the virus have affected all sectors of the economy. The educational sector in particular was badly affected by the pandemic as schools were closed and educational activities seized to move on. It is estimated that at the peak of the pandemic in 2020, about 1.6 billion students in 180 countries (including Nigeria) had been affected by school closures worldwide. In Africa, school closures were implemented as early as February 2020 affecting more than 250 million students, adding to about 100 million out-of-school children before the pandemic. However, the decision to reopen the schools for academic activities to move on has placed a heavy burden on the management process among various school administrators. How Public Relations which is part of the management of every organisation is useful in achieving the desired objective of the process remains very crucial. Anchored on the Stakeholders Theory and Excellence Theory of Public Relations, the data was sourced through relevant existing conceptual, theoretical and empirical secondary data and were analysed using themes and synthesis analytical techniques. The chapter revealed that apart from community relations, media relations, counselling, employee relations, and students’ relations among others, the use of Public Relations can go a long way to engage communities in reopening plans; help in targeting resources to where they are most needed; getting children back to school; making school environments safe; and recovering learning loss and building back better, which is a deliberate policy for school reopening and recovery from the COVID-19. It concluded that Public Relations in the recovery process of tertiary institutions from the COVID-19 lockdown is very necessary. However, inadequate involvement of the Public Relations Unit in the decision-making process on school recovery, excessive management influence on the operations of the unit, lack of funds, lack of professionals to handle the unit among others can limit the success in the application of public relations in the recovery process among Nigerian tertiary institutions. While involvement of public relations in the strategic management decision; synergy or collaboration between Public Relations Units, management teams, and other stakeholders; designated office for public relations; integration of Public relations function; use of professionals as PR officers; and equipping of public relations units with modern tools were recommended as key in achieving desired success in public relations practice in school reopening and recovery.