ASUU Strike and Federal Government: Does Government Understand STRIKE any Longer? (Featured)

This article you are about to read was written by Bankole K.T and Featured on FutaNewsandGist.

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It is about two decades I graduated from university and ASUU has been on strike almost every year. More than 20 years before I entered university it was like that. Now, my children are entering university and experiencing the same problem. What guarantees that my grand children will not experience the same?

When you continue to apply the same methodology to solve a problem and doesn’t yield desired results, do you continue the same or device other means? Our lecturers, I mean members of ASUU said using same method at all time will not yield different results. Why is ASUU using same methodology of partial or total strike that renders students and parents devastated for past four decades when the result is the same with no tangible response from government?

Impact of ASUU Strike and It's Effects?

Does ASUU consider the financial, social and psychological effects of perennial strikes on students and parents? Programs of 4 or 5 years turn out to 6 or 7 years leading to more spending’s on the part of parents.

What of the social effects; some become influenced negatively to become social miscreants due to idleness created by strikes, some take to drugs, some ladies take to prostitution.

Some ladies become pregnant and mothers. This is how some ladies couldn’t continue their university education. We also have cases of boys becoming fathers along the line. We have cases of losing students on accident while going home or returning to schools during strikes.

What can replace the loss of dear souls to hopeful parents?

Can there be comprehensive knowledge acquisition by students due to various interruptions during learning process? Can we actually give a proper assessment to students who have been home for several months without learning anything?

Is the quality of education still guaranteed?

Can we comfortably say that we are producing quality graduates for the past forty years due to ASUU strikes to press for university needs from FG?

ASUU is saying that the university education is underfunded by the FG. This is very true with the decay going on in terms of equipping the human resources; lecturers and non academic staffs and most importantly the structures and its contents to aid teaching and research.

How do we get out of this quagmire?

Education does not start from university it starts from primary to secondary before university level.

What is the state of our public primary/secondary schools? NUT had gone on strikes several times for improvement, but is there any remarkable change?

With the growing population, can public primary and secondary schools be sufficient for all the citizens?

Between university education and primary/secondary school education, which one is more important to be affordable, accessible and compulsory for all citizens?

We will all agree that the basic or fundamental levels of education require attention of all… Government, ASUU, NUT, NLC, NGOs, etc.

However, it is pertinent to note that most of the elites including the ASUU, NUT have moved on facing realities on ground by taking their children to private primary and secondary schools.

Most teachers in public primary and secondary schools don’t have their children in public schools.

READ ALSO: ASUU STRIKE; 7 Things You Can Do During ASUU Strike

Apart from the need for government to provide the necessary structures, the level of dedication to work by public teachers has diminished. Whereas, private teachers that earn less than most public teachers show more dedication and better output than their public counterparts and this is the reason why many of them send their children to private schools in the first instance.

The summary is that the insatiable minds is not only resident in people in government it cuts across all levels including our teachers and lecturers.

The Elites have all left fighting for Quality Education..

The elites have all left fighting for quality education at primary and secondary schools because they have gotten alternatives for themselves. The public schools is being attended by children of the poor. This is where we all get it wrong. However, if the best quality basic education is acquired by students they can pick up life effectively at any level… university, polytechnic, colleges of education, technical schools, skill acquisition centers, ICT centers etc.

The mentality that every child must go to university is fundamentally wrong.

A lot of our students go to university to obtain certificates without bothering on utilization of knowledge acquired relevant to course of study.

Instead of producing quality graduates that will create jobs, we end up with job seekers with low efficiency.

University education must attract best students in order to produce the best graduates who can solve societal problems. The quality of our products says a lot about training. ASUU members or products become Minister of education, policy makers and politicians whom we engage for better funding and who have refused to yield to our plights. It is a vicious circle without end result soon.

Saying strike is the only language the government understand is an obsolete statement.

This is irrelevant to the government over the years. It is not on the priority lists of government. FG is giving approval to more private and public universities year in year out. The signal giving is that each university should find means to survive. Government has become irresponsible parents who continue to procreate without thinking of responsibilities attached. Should the born children continue to lament or be proactive in tackling their challenges?

Let’s face reality just as many have done with primary/secondary schools.

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The opportunity cost of spending 6 or 7 years in university or spending 3 or 4 years of normal duration with higher fees should be weighed.

Let the university be autonomous financially but to be subsidized by government. Nigeria has gone beyond fully funded university education when the university was just 10 with free meal for students when the population was about 60 million.

Now, with level of awareness among the citizens, with population of above 200million, with 43 FG universities and 48 state government universities, thinking of fully funded university education at this stage of our lives is tantamount to mirage.

Parents should buckle up to pay more, grants, scholarships and loan should be encouraged to brilliant but indigent students. This is the reality we must face to move on.

Citing three Examples of Institutions running Uninterrupted Academic Calendar

I will cite three examples apart from private universities that are running uninterrupted academic calendar. Osun state university started with funds from each local government, today the university is operating smoothly without support from any arm of the government. The charges vary based on course of study. The average annual school fees is not more than what many of our elites pay per annum in average private secondary schools around.

National Open University was established during Obasanjo, today it has the largest student population. No strike since inception and the payment is per unit course with flexibilities that make it attractive to many working class. Today, many young students constitute the majority.

First Technical university Ibadan was established about 6 years ago running smoothly without any itch since inception. The school fees is about half of what is obtainable in many private universities. One spectacular thing about the university is that it attracts best students from public schools. The law establishing the university made it mandatory for each local government to give full scholarship to at least 5 students in public schools(( *no private school involved* ) every session with the exam conducted by the university. During the last graduation ceremony, most of the first class honors are students on scholarship from public schools.

ASUU should stop using the same style fighting the insensitive government and expect victory one day. The elites including ASUU must all go back to drawing board to fight the government to provide qualitative free and compulsory education at all levels in primary and secondary schools throughout the country. If we can’t ensure this, no need to keep on fighting at higher level…. University. Youruba will say that “O fi ete sile o wa npa lapalapa” … meaning “leaving leprosy to treat dandruff”.

Which is more important?

Bankole K.T.