S The Education Minister said the government had met 90 per - TopicsExpress

S The Education Minister said the government had met 90 per cent of the principal demands of the lecturers. The Federal Government on Wednesday pleaded with the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, ASUP, and the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union, COEASU, to call off their strikes. This is contained in a statement signed by Simeon Nwakaudu, the Special Assistant on Media to the Supervising Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, in Abuja. The statement stated that the Federal Government had clearly worked hard to resolve the ASUP and COEASU strikes. According to the statement, the minister has on several occasions negotiated with the ASUP and COEASU leaderships to resolve the ongoing strike. “It is hoped that in the coming days, COEASU and ASUP will respond positively to the latest efforts of the Federal Government,’’ the statement said. Mr. Nwakaudu claimed the negotiations had led to the Federal Government meeting about 90 per cent of the demands of the unions. He said the only one principal demand yet to be finalised by the Federal Government was the payment of arrears of CONTISS 15 put at over N40 billion for the two unions. The Federal Government, he added, had proposed two installment payments which the unions had rejected. He also stated that further negotiations were held last week and there was hope that outstanding issues would be resolved soon. The spokesperson said the Federal Government had made a lot of efforts through the ministry by setting up of the Needs Assessment Committees for Polytechnics and Colleges of Education. He said the two committees were in the process of concluding their reports after the field assessments in which ASUP and COEASU officials participated. He said based on the reports, the Federal Government would directly intervene the way it did with the universities. Mr. Nwakaudu recalled that that several direct improvements have also been made via investments in infrastructure, classrooms, libraries and laboratories in polytechnics in the last three years. He said Nigerians had commended the improvements facilitated by President Goodluck Jonathan in the last three years at public town hall meetings held in four zones with Federal Polytechnics and Colleges of Education. He urged the unions to reciprocate by calling off their strikes in the coming days. ASUP has been on strike since October 2013, while COEASU has been on strike since December. Both unions said they would not call off the strike until the federal government meets their demands.