Minister of Education, Prof. Rukayyatu Rufa’i and Minister of Labour, Emeka Wogu on Tuesday met with members of the Senate Committee on Education in a bid to resolve the latest dispute between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal Government.
At the end of the meeting, the constitution of a task force to fashion best ways of ironing out the disagreement was agreed. Among other key discussions during the meeting were the revival of visitation panels, appointment of governing boards for polytechnics and the implementation of Consolidated Tertiary Salary Structure (CONTISS).
After Rufa’i briefed the Senate on the lead-up to the ASUU strike over government’s failure to honour an agreement it reached with the union in 2009, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Education, Uche Chukwumerije expressed worries about the spate of industrial actions in the education sector.
Already, most universities have complied with the order from the national ASUU to down tools. At the country’s first university, the University of Ibadan (UI), for example, lecture theatres were deserted, as disappointed students who turned up for classes had to leave.
Secretary of ASUU UI, Dr Ayodeji Omole lamented that education was not better despite the emergency of an academic in Dr. Goodluck Jonathan as the country’s president.
“In view of the unsatisfactory state of the implementation of the 2009 agreement, the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), after exhaustive deliberations, asked various branches to resume the suspended indefinite strike from July 1,” Omole wrote in a letter to Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Israel Adewole.
“You are hereby duly informed that all our members in the University of Ibadan have, effective from today, July 1, complied accordingly and withdrawn from all academic activities, including teaching, supervision and all statutory and ad-hoc meetings.”
