Resumption: FUNAAB debunks ASUU's Chairman's claims, insist on resumption

Resumption: FUNAAB debunks ASUU's Chairman's claims

.....says it is politically-motivated

The Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Prof. Kolawole Salako has described as political, mischievous, baseless and unfounded the university's ASUU chairman, Dr. Adebayo Oni's claim in the media that the school is not prepared resume academic activities.

Debunking the claim on Monday at a news conference, Prof. Salako said there was much to it than meet the eyes, dismissing it as a politically-motivated statement intended to satisfy selfish curiousity.

The University's Management reaction came even as the Leadership of the students Union passed a vote of confidence on the Vice Chancellor and the readiness of the university to resume virtually and physically.

Prof. Salako told journalists at a press conference on Monday that all measures had been put in place, including the fumigation of the campus for not less than ten times since March, 2020.

He added that the management had been producing its own hand sanitizers as well as the procurement of hand-washing basins and soaps needed to keep the students and members of staff safe from contracting the virus.

To validate the management's position, Prof. Salako took the journalists on tour of some newly completed and rehabilitated buildings that have been equipped with latest technological gadgets to aid virtual teaching and learning.

The Vice Chancellor added that the buildings also have equipped laboratories, auditoriums, lecture theaters, classrooms with each being 50-seated, 100-seated, 200-seated capacity as well as newly constructed and renovated administrative offices and hostels.

He hinted that about 150 solar panels have been installed in some of the buildings to provide alternative sources of electricity and aid the planned hybrid system of academic activities.

According to Prof. Salako, "the university is ready to receive students both online and physically and we are going to ensure that all the students adhere to covid-19 protocols.

"One things that this administration is known for is that we are not just building, we are equipping. We are committed and responsible to ensuring that things work in the school despite the threat posed by Covid-19".

He lamented that students are tired of staying at home, promising that the management would do everything possible to cover the academic gap caused by the closure of the campus.

ASUU Lists New Conditions For 2020 School Resumption

After 5 months of no class room activities there is still hope for tertiary eduction this year as Academic Staff Union of Universities ASUU New list Conditions For 2020 School Resumption.

This development was made known through its president Prof. Ogunyemi who assured its readiness to resume academic activities this year based on the conditions for reopening of universities.

What ASUU President told news men “We are ready to resume as soon as the conditions for reopening schools are met. We have also advised the government to use the opportunity of the lockdown to address the challenges in the education sector.”

Check out ASUU New Conditions For School Resumption

Prof Ogunyemi listed the issues raised in the MoA which include.

1. Release of N1.3trillion for revitalization of Universities.

2.  Payment of all Earned Academic allowances.

3. Commencement of visitation to all federal Universities.

4. Provision of documented guidelines on procedures and roles of parties in the process of renogotiating FGN/ASUU agreement of 2009.

According to the Union President, successive governments were establishing universities without adequately them, adding that some of the institutions established were needless.

“State governments have turned the establishment of Universities to constituency projects; every governor wants to have a university in his constituency.

This is really sad and if we are not careful, university education will collapse like the public primary schools in the country.

So, what ASUU is really fighting for is to stop the total collapse. Our demands are not selfishly motivated,” he added.

WASSCE: Don’t reopen schools until 2021, ASUU tells FG

The Academic Staff Union of Universities has said it supported the decision of the Federal Government to stop Senior Secondary School 3 pupils from partaking in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination earlier scheduled to commence on August 4.

The union advised the government to shut down schools until 2021 to ensure adequate preparations, citing the case in some countries such as Kenya.

Our correspondents had reported on Saturday that the Federal Ministry of Education met with officials of the West African Examination Council in Abuja and resolved to announce a new date for the examination.

The Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, had also said the government would consult with the four other countries under WAEC to set a new date, while announcing COVID-19 mandatory guidelines for schools which must be kept before July 29.

The ASUU President, Prof Biodun Ogunyemi, who made the recommendations in an interview said no reasonable government would take such chances unless parents would be told to sign an undertaking.

Ogunyemi said, “Look, Kenya has said they have closed all their schools till next year (2021); they too have exams to write. Safety first. If it means closing the schools until next year to safeguard the lives of Nigerian children and safeguard the health of all Nigerians, so be it.

“So, if that will help us to address cases that can lead to increase in mortality, I think Nigerians should go that way and all of us should see reason for it. If they need to cancel admission for the year, it is good for them. Life matters first, people must have life first before they can go to university. Are the universities ready to work now?

“Our position is that they should not experiment with the lives of our children. Nobody can tell; the situation may soon normalise and they can do their exams and there is another opportunity for external candidates around November. So, it’s not as if the door is totally closed.”

The ASUU president added that the union had not seen any evidence to show that schools were secured for students to go back.

He said, “The first thing that should be tackled is whether schools are safe. And if the schools are not safe, why do you want to carry out an experiment with the lives of our children? An attempt to send back the children to school at a time there is a spike in COVID-19 cases in Nigeria is like experimenting with the lives of our children.

“If they put all the things in place, including social and physical distancing, sanitisers, kitting the children as we see in other places, decontamination with water flowing in the schools and all the gadgets, why not? So, if government can meet all these conditions, then they can reopen the schools. But if they cannot meet all these conditions, they should not experiment with even 10 students in any school.”

Meanwhile, the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools has said that its members are ready for school reopening and that as part of measures to curtail the spread of COVID-19, it has directed its members to open schools for about four hours daily.

NAPPS in an exclusive interview with one of our correspondents noted that since the Federal Government had given the directive on school resumption for terminal classes, it was relating with its members nationwide on a number of safety protocols to put in place.

The NAPSS National President, Chief Yomi Otubela, said, “Our association, as the registered umbrella body of private schools in Nigeria, has been interfacing with Federal Government representatives, including the Ministry of Education and other agencies, concerning how to combat the spread of COVID-19.

“The fact that pupils are returning to school does not mean that we are going to spend the total hours as it used to be in the past. We are considering a little time of about three to four hours in school. This is to ensure that there is no room for children to go on break and play around the premises.

“And we have also discussed with our members that there should be staggered resumption. Staggered resumption means that if the JSS3 class comes to school by 8am, SSS3 can come by 9am and the Primary 6 classes can come by 10am. This is to ensure that we don’t get the entrances and the exits crowded.”

The president noted that schools had been instructed to have infrared thermometers, and also avoid teachers marking students’ books manually.