Colleges of Education Joins Strike The issue between the federal government of Nigeria and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) remain unresolved, over two months after the union announced a full blown industrial strike action. Now, students of government owned colleges of education would for one week be joining their counterparts from the universities. This follows the announcement by the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU), of a one week warning strike with effect from Monday 9th to Friday 13th September 2013. In July, the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union issued a 21-day notice on the Federal Government, after which on August 15, it wrote a letter to the Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufai, in which it issued another 14-day ultimatum to the government to meet its demands. In the letter signed by its President, Asagha Nkoro, and the General Secretary, Nuhu Ogirima, COEASU expressed worry about the attitude of the government to the crisis in the education sector, especially over poor working conditions. The letter reads, “Given the apparent unwillingness of the Federal Government to meaningfully address the issues of grave concern to the survival of the College of Education system within 21 days, as enunciated in the letter. The union hereby states that should the Federal Government maintain its lackadaisical posture in the next two weeks, it would be compelled to embark on a nationwide strike action in the colleges of education. “In other words, the entire academic staff of the nation’s colleges of education would, indeed, cease all responsibilities and functions dischargeable under the law and statute, if by August, 29,2013, the Federal Government refuses to take practical and meaningful steps towards addressing the union’s demands.” The COEASU complaints are similar to that of ASUU – infrastructural decay, poor funding, non-implementation of the 2010 FG-COEASU Agreement, poor conditions of service, brain drain and illegal imposition of the IPPIS. The Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, which was supposed to begin its examinations has put it off as a result. In a circular which was seen by The Scoop, the college stated that the examinations which were originally fixed for 9th to 13th have been rescheduled.
Posted on: Sat, 07 Sep 2013 05:28:54 +0000
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