Education: Stakeholders Count Costs of Prolonged ASUU Strike, COVID-19 Lockdown

Stakeholders in the education sector are alarmed by the long closure of schools, particularly tertiary institutions, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the lengthy strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities.

They say there are varied implications, including the loss of academic time by students and the huge financial toll the development will take on parents and the sector.

THE WHISTLER recalls that ASUU had on March 23, embarked on an industrial action, following disagreements with the Federal Government on issues bordering on the funding of the education sector for better quality.

As of Friday (yesterday), the two sides had yet to resolve their disagreements, an indication that the universities would remain shut even if government further relaxed the Covid -19 lockdown.

ASUU President, Prof Biodun Ogunyemi, had said, “We had long told government our position and until they meet necessary conditions, universities are not resuming even after COVID-19.

“There are outstanding issues and government is not ready to fix our universities and provide enabling learning environment.”

THE WHISTLER also recalls that the Covid-19 pandemic led the government to shut down most sectors, but it had lately directed their gradual reopening.

However, tertiary institutions remain shut.

The Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba, had also stressed that in line with the position of the Covid-19 Presidential Taskforce (PTF), safety was given priority ahead of the hasty resumption of schools at all levels.

The education ministry had asked secondary schools to resume so that exit classes could sit for their final examinations, already started in August 17.

A Microbiology Lecturer at the Federal University, Gusau, Zamfara State, Mrs Oluchukwu Abba, told THE WHISTLER that the closure of tertiary institutions was not a good development for the students.

She stated, “It is no longer news that aside from the nationwide lockdown of tertiary institutions as a result of Covid-19, ASUU is currently on an indefinite strike, which the union started on 23 March 2020.

“So many issues have culminated to this present happenings in our Nigerian universities of which, failure of the government to honour the agreements reached with the union through the 2009 and 2013 memorandum of understanding, takes the lead.

“It is a pity that our nation has little or no regard for education and this has led to lingering problems in our educational sector.”

She stressed that during or beyond Covid-19, the federal government would have to treat education with dignity and every sense of responsibility. The don noted that this meant listening to the demands of ASUU.

She further stated that efficient funding of schools created a good learning environment and experience for students, which would ultimately aid their academic competitiveness.

“How many institutions can boast of modern equipment necessary to carry out a cutting edge research?

“How many of our laboratories are properly equipped?,” she asked

According to a World Health Organisation (WHO) report, the pandemic opened the door for more negative vices amongst youths across the world.

However, Abba said although the closure of schools negatively impacted on students in so many ways, they still had the Internet to explore so as to keep upgrading and updating themselves.

“Students are therefore employed to engage themselves during this lockdown by taking advantage of so many free online courses available on the internet. They include those offered by www.futureleam.com, coursera, udenmy, Alison, Google digital garage, Oxford home study, Open learning (University Quality Learning), Saylor.org, Shaw Academy, etc.

“They can also learn different technical and entrepreneural skills to help them become independent financially at the post Covid-19 era,” she stated.

In another development, the Students’ Union Government (SUG) President, University Of Abuja (UNIABUJA), Oladoja Habbeb Olawale, queried the decision to keep tertiary institutions shut while other sectors were asked to reopen.

He also noted that the ASUU strike had kept schools closed, blaming the prolonged strike and the pains it caused students on the federal government.

He added that “they have stopped believing that it is Covid-19 that is still keeping them at home.”

“The question is; is it not the same Covid-19 that allowed markets, worship centres and international flights to re-open or resume ?,”he asked.

He urged the federal government to allow students to return to school.

“The federal government should stop messing and toying with our destinies and futures…We are tired of staying at home,” he said.

He added that some students of UNIABUJA had been rendered helpless and jobless due to the lockdown.

However, UNIABUJA’s SUG Chairman for Social Committee, Iorsamber Shedrach, told THE WHISTLER, that some students still maximised the lockdown to their own advantage.

” It also affected students positively too because a lot of them who wanted to make themselves useful, engaged in different trades and handwork.

“UniAbuja students are exploring ways to keep themselves competitive in terms of entrepreneurship /vocational activities, fashion designing, e-learning, etc,” he stated.

But, he added that the negative impact far outweighed them.

“Yes,the shutdown of UniAbuja negatively affected students in my school,” he added.