Next ASUU Strike

Next ASUU Strike
on december 18, 2013 at 4:00 am in editorial
ULULATIONS over the Academic Staff Union of
Universities, ASUU, calling off its five-month-old
strike have overtaken the damage the long-drawn
dispute has done to education. How do we ensure
that in the new year, another ASUU strike does not
occur?
What appears to be important is the fact that the
lecturers are returning to the classrooms.
Government is relieved that it has stopped the
embarrassing headlines of universities that have
lost five months of academic activities while
haggling over a 2009 agreement.
How important is education to the authorities? How
would the lost learning time be recovered? What is
the quality of certificates the students would obtain
after the long absence from school?
ASUU’s refusal to call off the strike until
government produced proof of depositing the money
to meet its demands in the Central Bank is another
chapter in government’s relations with ASUU. Other
labour unions would adopt the same measures in
resolving own issues.
Government has failed to gain the trust of labour
unions. When the Academic Staff Union
Polytechnics, ASUP, went on strike, government did
not speak to the union for three months. The issue
remains partially resolved. Governments sign
agreements with no intention of keeping them. The
disputed 2009 agreement is due for re-negotiation,
yet it has not been implemented.
Our governments should change their policies of
planning for immediate needs. ASUU is not the only
labour union in education. Its strike that took so long
to resolve is not the major challenge education
faces.
At the foundational levels, challenges with number
and quality of teachers, teaching aids, classroom
space, learning environment, and curriculum
persist. The thinking that once the universities are
open, education is on the proper ken is deceptive.
Higher education is at most vacuous when
foundations at the primary and secondary school
levels are ignored.
Governments urgently need to address these issues
as well as the bureaucracies in education. They are
wasteful; savings from emerging them could
release funds for core education.
What are governments’ plans beyond depositing
N200 billion to end the ASUU strike? How would
they tackle sustainable funding to stem another
wave of strikes next year? Would governments ever
consider education important enough that it should
run without disruptions?
Thousands of conferences held annually on the
future of education are mere talk sessions that
hardly improve education. When will the changes be
made? Do governments require strikes to realise
the importance of education? What are
governments’ plans for education?
Unions, which always consider the welfare of their
members as a first charge, cannot determine the
future of education. Governments should provide
sustainable means for funding education, not to
avoid strikes, but to underline the importance of
education.