UPDATE: Why we’ll never support Increment in school fees as solution– ASUU
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has said only genuine increment in budgets for education between 20 and 26 percent by the federal government as spelled out by the United Nations will be the solution to the current impasse with the university system in Nigeria.
The president of ASUU, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke stated this during an interview with Daily Trust on Sunday.
He asserted categorically that introducing school fees would not solve the current crisis as the union will not encourage tuition fees in whatever guise.
He said, “We will not encourage tuition fees in whatever guise. The government can meet our demands without tuition fees. What is the minimum wage for Nigerians? It is N30,000. If we start to charge N200,000 to N300,000 how will a parent earning N30,000 pay for two children?
“It should be noted that education is a right, not a privilege, so we will never go for that! If they like, let them sack all of us.” He added
Professor Osodeke further lamented that the parents of students are already paying so much. “They pay for accommodation because there are no more hostels in universities, they pay for feeding and transport because they are not staying on campus. They pay for everything, including laboratory usage. So why should they pay for tuition again?” He asked
He noted that while Nigeria’s resources are being mismanaged by government officials, education is being given priority in other countries.
The ASUU leader recommends that the best way to handle the current Crises is for government to make up its mind to prioritize education over other things like other countries in the world.
He said, “In Ghana, their budget on education is between 15 to 20 percent of their total, while Nigeria budgets 6%. Does it make any sense? Not even in the United States where the minimum wage is high. If they try the introduction of tuition fees, children will rise against every person involved.
“Nigeria should increase her budgetary allocations to what has been recommended by the United Nations Education and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), which is 20 to 26 percent as we have in other countries.
“The struggle is about the Nigerian university system. It is about the future of our students. The government is muting the idea of paying school fees, N1 million per student, then all of them will leave the school.
“They should know that what we are fighting for is about them. If we ‘leather our guide’ they will introduce school fees of N1m per student. And you know the implication. How many Nigerian students would be able to afford N1m as school fees?” He concluded
ASUU Demands met by FG so far.
The ASUU leader said none of the union’s demands has been fully met by the federal government.
“We want revitalization of the universities and the government promised that every year, as far back as 2013, we shall be receiving N220 billion, which they signed. Since 2014 till today they have only released N70 billion. Between 2014 and today is about eight years.
“The last time we met in 2020 they said they would release N30 billion immediately as a sign of commitment to implementing the agreement. That is the commitment out of the N220 billion, but till now, they have not released anything.
“Also, we agreed to mainstream Earned Academic Allowances (EAA) so that we will not be talking about it again, and they agreed as if they would mainstream it in 2020 or 2021. 2021 has come and gone and in 2022, it is not in the budget, and they have done nothing!
“They also said they were going to pay our promotion arrears. People were promoted four, five years ago, but till now they just paid a few to create the confusion that people have been paid, which is not correct.
“The fourth one is that they said they were going to accept the UTAS as an alternative to the IPPIS. It is about 10 months now and the UTAS has not been accepted. They kept on telling lies. We have done tests with them, which were all positive.
“But they went to the public to tell lies that the UTAS failed integrity tests. We asked if the IPPIS they are using was even tested, and the answer is no. What they are using was never tested, and they don’t want to test it. We have told them to test the two together and see the one that is better, but they said they should not be addressed like that, just because there are some people feeding on the IPPIS.
“All these were said during negotiation. We started this negotiation in 2017. This was an agreement on May 21, 2021; and now, they are telling us that they are going to set up another panel. Does it make sense? Those are the major issues we had in the agreement, and till now, none has been implemented, not even up to 10 percent. I just pray they can do it within a short period if there is a commitment.”
For Advert Placement, Sponsorship, support, Article submission, suggestion, etc, Contact us: info@theabusites.com, +2349015751816 (WhatsApp Only)
