FG begs lecturers to return to classroom
Posted on Tuesday, July 9th, 2013
By Innocent Oweh
Correspondent, Abuja

One weekinto the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the Federal Government finally met with Vice Chancellors of all public universities in Abuja on Monday.

The meeting which held at the headquarters of the National Universities Commission (NUC)was chaired by Minister of Education, Ruqayyatu Rufa’i, with most of the Vice Chancellors in attendance.

Rufa’i, who pleaded with the striking lecturers to go back to the classroom while negotiations continue, indicated that she will be leading a delegation from her ministry to meet with members of the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Education today and that ASUU and its executives are expected to also be in attendance.

“We would be meeting with the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Education and our colleagues would be there and after that encounter we would take decisions.

“I believe that after tomorrow you will know the relationship between government and ASUU. But the good thing is that we always plead that let them go back to the classes,” the minister said.

ASUU’s current strike is anchored on the 2009 pact the union entered with the FederalGovernment, one major component of which is the Academic Earned Allowance (AEA).
Meanwhile, President of ASUU, Nasir Fagge, who spoke at a separate forum organised by the Independent Service Delivery Monitoring Group (ISDMG) in Abuja to x-ray President Goodluck Jonathan’s achievement in the education sector, accused the NUC of violating the Act establishing it.

According to Fagge, issues of better infrastructure, funding and welfare needs fortertiary institutions which ASUU has been clamouring for over the years ought to be theresponsibility of the regulatory agency, NUC.

Fagge said government, rather than own up that it has failed in the provision of access to quality education in the country, heaps the blame on low public private partnership (PPP).

ASUU also took a swipe at government over the recent establishment of additional 12 universities in the six geo-political zones, saying they were mere measures to assuage political interests.
“What do I mean by this? Every time we have interaction with government, the issue of PPPcomes in.

“Simply put, the private sector must contribute to the development of education in this country. How does the Federal Government expect the private sector to contribute? The first thing government placeson the table is, we increase tuition fee.
“NUC is busy organising conferences, rather than focusing on regulatory functions, these are clear cut violations of education laws that NUC is supposed to address.

http://dailyindependentnig.com/2013/07/fg-begs-lecturers-to-return-to-classroom/