The new Minister of Education, Mallam
Ibrahim Shekarau met with ASUP and COEASU leadership in order to put an
end to the strike. This is coming hours after he assumed office as the
new Education Minister.
Read the full details of the news as reported by LeadershipNG:
Shekarau Meets ASUP,COEASU To End Strike Crisis
He held a combined meeting with the
leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) and the
College of Education Academic Staff Union(COEASU) where both unions
tabled the grievances that had elicited an indefinite strike in the last
10 months.
ASUP’s President, Chibuzo Asomugha who
spoke on behalf of both unions, raised issues of polytechnic visitation
white paper which was yet to be released by the federal government.
He also said both unions were aggrieved
by the non constitution of governing councils of six federal
polytechnics, including the report of the Needs Assessment of Nigerian
Polytechnics which are yet to be implemented since 2012.
Asomugha equally bemoaned delay in
amending the Polytechnic Act, adding that the last time such amendment
took place was in 2004.
While advocating an end to dictonomy
between degree programmes and Higher National Diploma(HND), he said
setting up an independent commission, the National Polytechnic
Commission would greatly reduce unrest in the sector.
Shekarau, in his response, appealed to
the unions to prevail on their lecturers to go back to classroom, adding
that the polytechnic sector which happen to be the engine room for
national development could not afford to be under lock and key for so
long.
He assured the affected unions of
government commitment to the education sector, insisting that
discussions could go on while the union suspended the strike.
“As a minister and with my pedigree as a teacher, I can assure you that government is committed to the education system.
“Now that I have been briefed on some of
the challenges, I will table the issues before the appropriate quarters
where more holistic view will be given to them, but in the in meantime,
I want to appeal to you to suspend the strike in the interest of our
children and Nigerians.
“Polytechnics are the engine room of our
national economy, we cannot make any progress as a nation without
taking the polytechnic sector into consideration,” he stated.