ASUP may resume strike, unless…. on July 18, 2013 / in Education 12:30 am / Comments BY DAYO ADESULU, LAJU ARENYEKA & IKENNA ASOMBA Although the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) suspended its 81-day-old nationwide strike on Tuesday, stakeholders in the sector have expressed concern that members of the union may again down their tools after the one-month time frame given to the Federal Government to tackle relevant issues. The National Coordinator, Education Rights Campaign (ERC), while reacting to ASUP’s decision said; “The suspension of the strike is not enough reason to shout hurray. It is the same technique that the Government has been using to deceive the union for the past four years. Very soon, ASUP will have reason to strike again, because the government is not sincerely interested in meeting their demands; they just want to keep on postponing the evil day. The demands of ASUP are genuine and they require additional funding. What the Government must first do is present a supplementary budget for education to cover these concerns.” In a press release issued in Abuja on Tuesday, the National Publicity Secretary of the Union, Comrade Clement Chairman stated that the strike was suspended after an emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the union which was held in Abuja. According to Chairman, “The union, after a holistic appraisal of the progress made so far resolved that the strike be suspended.” It noted that the circular for implementation of CONTISS 15 migration for lower cadres has been released while appreciable work has been done on reconstitution of governing councils of federal polytechnics which were earlier omitted. On enrollment of polytechnics into the IPPIS module, the union remains resolute on its earlier position that reasonable caution be employed to take care of the autonomy of polytechnics.” Minister of Education, Prof Rukayat Rufai and ASUP Chairman, Dr. Chibuzo Asomugha Minister of Education, Prof Rukayat Rufai and ASUP Chairman, Dr. Chibuzo Asomugha The union, however, implored stakeholders in the negotiation to respect the agreement reached to avoid further disruption of academic activities in Nigerian polytechnics. It would be recalled that ASUP had embarked on a nation-wide strike on April 29, 2013 to press government to address among other things: ‘the need for constitution of the Governing Councils of Federal Polytechnics, the Migration of the lower cadre on CONTISS 15 salary scale, the release of the White Paper on the Visitations to Federal Polytechnics, the worrisome state of state-owned Polytechnics in the country, the continued appointment of unqualified persons as Rectors and Provosts of Polytechnics, Monotechnics and Colleges of Technologies by some state governments, as well as the need for the commencement of the Needs Assessment of Nigerian Polytechnics.” Other grievances aired by ASUP include: ‘the refusal of most state governments to implement the approved salary packages (CONPCASS) for their Polytechnics, and the 65 years retirement age; the insistence of the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation to include Federal Polytechnics in the IPPIS module as against the union’s protestations while other arms of the tertiary education sub-sector are allowed to maintain the status quo; the continued recognition of The National Board for Technical Education as the regulatory body of Nigerian Polytechnics as against the union’s repeated call for the establishment of a National Polytechnics Commission (NPC); the snail speed of works on the amendment of the Federal Polytechnics Act/Scheme of Service and the non-commencement of the re-negotiation of the FGN/ASUP agreement as contained in the signed agreement. The President, Student Union Government, Federal Polytechnic Ede, Comrade Bashir Saheed Adewale, said the students received the news of the suspension with mixed feelings. “We are excited,” he said, “it is not easy to stay at home for such a long time. We just want the Federal Government to give in to their demands. The strike embarked on by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is still on. If the Government meets the demands of UNESCO, to allocate 26% of its budget to education, we won’t be having all these problems.” ASUU strike on the other hand, is in its 18th day without any silver lining.The meeting between the joint Committee of Senate and House of Representatives on Education with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), on Monday was deadlocked, as the union refused to yield to the appeals of the legislators to call their members back to the classroom. The union argued that unless government accedes to core areas of the agreement it reached with the union in 2009, the 15-day old strike will continue. According to the Secretary of the Senate Committee on Education, Sen. Felix Orumwense, the meeting which lasted over eight hours ended with ASUU standing their grounds. He said; “Our meeting with ASUU started by 1.00pm and ended at about 8.30pm. All efforts to appeal to them to call their members back to classroom fell on deaf ears. One of our major appeals was that their Academic Earned Allowance (AEA) will be increased from 5 per cent to 7 per cent, but the union insisted that it’s the 15 per cent FG agreed with it in 2009 that it will accept, or else the strike continues. “We have appealed to ASUU to go home and review their stand for the benefit of our children. You can only force a horse to the stream, but you can’t force it to drink water,” he said. - See more at: vanguardngr/2013/07/asup-may-resume-strike-unless/#sthash.nktUJ9wy.dpuf
Posted on: Thu, 15 Aug 2013 08:59:09 +0000
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