ASUP seeks proactive action in education sector

The President of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), Comrade Usman Yusuf, has said that the issues that compelled the union to embark on a nine-month strike between October 2013 and July 2014 are yet to be addressed by the federal government. He stated this during a press conference on the challenges of polytechnic […]

The President of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), Comrade Usman Yusuf, has said that the issues that compelled the union to embark on a nine-month strike between October 2013 and July 2014 are yet to be addressed by the federal government.
He stated this during a press conference on the challenges of polytechnic education in Nigeria held recently in Abuja.
He said the strike, which was suspended owing to the intervention of the National Assembly and the passionate appeal of parents and other stakeholders in the sector and on the promise by the federal government to resolve the 13-point demand of the union within three months beginning from July, 2014, rather than being resolved saw the addition of new problems instead.
He said the situation suggested that the coming years would be grim and marked by sluggish growth and total neglect of the sector.
He said: “Our show of faith and patience in pursuing our demands over the years was consistent with our discipline and belief that the democratic experience of our nation had ample vistas that would hasten processes and strengthen the character of our institutions.
“Paradoxically, our faith and patience have failed as government has consistently and deliberately refused to address the problems confronting polytechnic education in Nigeria. This development has induced apparent unease in the sector, thereby provoking industrial disharmony.”
Yusuf noted that the survival of any nation depends solely on its education sector. He said the quality and direction of education a country’s citizenry acquired determined the quality of attitudinal, economic and political growth and development of such a country.
“A quick look at the world today indicates that even in the so-called third world countries, education has gone far beyond managing to the level of governance and developing of functional educational framework; implementing and monitoring its effectiveness as well as partnering with private institutions in areas of critical skills.
“Nigeria which is widely tagged as the giant of Africa is still uncertain where she is heading to regarding her educational system. Our annual budgets have failed to determine actual priorities and to address the rot in the sector from primary to tertiary level,” he said.  
Comrade Yusuf warned proprietors of polytechnics to either conform to minimum standards of setting up a polytechnic or close in order to curtail the setting up of mere skills acquisition and vocational training centres by some desperate proprietors thereby endangering the future of the country’s children.