Following the directive of school re-opening by some states, the Academic Staff Union of the Nigerian Universities (ASUU) has today warned the federal Government that doing so is suicidal as all our tertiary institutions were already overcrowded. The Academic body said the social distancing and adherence to some COVID-19 protocols is near impossible considering the nature of our schools. Therefore, ASUU warned that going ahead to open schools would only increase the spread of the coronavirus. Prof. Emmanuel Osedeke, the National Vice President of ASUU while conducting an interview with newsmen called on the federal government to upgrade the tertiary institutions if the schools must resume.
Recall, the Minister Of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajuba had on August 22, hinted that schools may soon resume operations.
While talking to the Nigerian Television Authority anchored, the minister said the government is working towards ending the industrial action embarked by ASUU.
However, the National Vice president of ASUU said that though, government believed the education sector is critical but should meet with the COVID-19 guidelines if it should resume.
Osedeke noted that the procedure created at the airport to protect the elites and their children should be replicated in our public schools if schools should resume.
His statement partly reads: “If the government believes that the education sector is critical, they should try and meet those rules. They met them for the airports, you are aware. If you get to an airport before you board a plane, there is a procedure you will pass through because the airport is for the elite. Their children are going back abroad for studies so the airports should be okay so that they can go back to school. Meanwhile, they want these children to go back to schools where there are no health facilities, no good accommodation; lecture theatres are so small for the students and you want them to go and have a high rate of infection.
“We expect the parents, students and our colleagues in the media to put it to the government that they have spent so much money on COVID-19 since it started, why can’t they spend money on the education sector and upgrade the facilities so that the children can go back to school? That is what we should be talking about.”
He explained that he expected the federal government to have since set up the COVID-19 protocols at school but have all of a sudden it is calling for resumption while nothing is done.
In his statement, “It is not safe to return to school. The government set the rules for schools on what should happen before schools can reopen. Has the government met the rules? No, they have not. Do we have enough space where the students can keep social distancing? A room that is going to contain two students, we have between 10 and 20 students, will they change that? The lecture theatres too… Do they have improved medical facilities in case of an emergency? These are not there. We expect the government to meet those rules before it thinks about reopening.
Also at the press conference held at the Olabisi Onabanjo University Ago-Iwoye, Lagos zone, ASUU warned the federal government of great catastrophe if it insists schools should resume prior to setting up COVID-19 protocols in place.
Addressing the press conference, Prof. Olusuji Sowande, the ASUU zonal coordinator said the federal government air marked special arrangement for a special bailout for airline operators and private school teachers, but said nothing about the public schools.
He cautioned that it was not enough to have the students back on campuses, but that the atmosphere and conditions must also be right.
He said the university Hostel accommodation is inadequate, and facilities to ensure social distancing were nowhere available in all public schools.
He concluded, “Government must as a matter of urgency implement the MoA of February 7, 2019, which it signed with ASUU. This, we believe, if attended to, will upgrade these universities and address the impunity and corruption seen in the university system.”
