Millions of children have not attended school since last summer in the three West African nations brought low by Ebola.
In Guinea, schools will re-open for the first time, where Ebola first emerged 10 months ago. but many parents were still too afraid to send their children to classes.
Employees at the doors of schools in the capital were taking temperatures of everyone who showed up on Monday. Only those with normal readings were allowed to enter the building.
Guinea, is now showing signs of improvement. The World Health Organization said several days ago that the country had its lowest weekly total of new confirmed cases since mid-August.
Many pupils remained at home because of the fear of contacting the disease, after rumors flew through the capital that masked workers were seen at a school building, raising questions about how safe the buildings were.
Many incorrectly believe that health workers are actually spreading the disease.
“Guinea is a lost country,” lamented Nafiou Bah, one of the workers cleaning up the buildings to reopen.
“We have disinfected the buildings with a chlorine solution as is recommended for hygiene reasons but it’s crazy to say that we’ve contaminated the classrooms.”
More than 1,800 people have died from Ebola in Guinea since the epidemic first began a little over a year ago.