Nyok|6 December 2018
International development expert, Mr Princewill Odidi, has faulted the ongoing industrial action embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in Nigeria NEGROIDHAVEN can say.
Odidi said that the strike action is rather compounding the issue of poor education in Nigeria than resolve it. The development economist who disclosed that in other climes government do not pay salary of teachers of tertiary educational facilities noted that graduates from Nigerian schools are the worst of relatively inferring.
He explained that government only assist in guaranteed loans for students when they default after graduation, competitive research grants but is not responsible for salaries of teachers but policies.
According to him, 'With our educational system already bastardized, ASUU is still talking about strikes to further compound the problem. Gradually our graduates are becoming some of the worst any nation can produce.
'Have we ever asked, how many nations in the world does government pay professors and lecturers? Government need not have any business funding schools other than making policies. If government must fund education it can only be for competitive research grants. Why associate universities with government?
'In most countries, all what government does is to guarantee loans for students, banks give out these loans and students use it to pay their fees. If students graduate they pay or return the loans gradually to the bank, if they cannot, the government pays for them. That’s the meaning of government guaranteed loans. Let students collect loans and pay their fees.
'For the past 35 years or more we are still going on strike, why contribute to further destroy a system that is collapsing?'
Recall that ASUU went on strike on 4th of November, it's now over a month now.
The ongoing strike is inspired by government's failure to implement and fulfil agreements it reached with the union as contained in the memorandum of understanding signed in November 2014.
Particularly, the issue of the funding of the institutions is the crux such that after the government conducted the NEEDS assessment in 2014, it promised to implement it. Years after, there is no formal strategy for implementation.
Efio-Ita Nyok
Is the Blogger-in-Chief, Editor-in-Chief & Publisher of NEGROIDHAVEN
