Education
‘Why We Suspended Proposed ASUP Strike’
The Academic Staff
Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has stated the reasons behind the suspension of the nationwide indefinite strike scheduled to have commenced last week.
In a telephone interview with The Tide, the Vice Chairman, Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, Rivers State College of Arts and Science (RIVCAS) Chapter, Dr Enyekit E. Owaji, stated that the reasons were basically because the federal government addressed some of the most pressing issues, and gave assurance to address others.
Among the key issues addressed, Dr Owaji said, is the withdrawal of the circular suspending implementation of the Consolidated Tertiary Institutions Salary Structure 15 (CONTISS 15) which gave the members of ASUP cause for concern.
Others are the immediate directive given to the councils and management of Federal Polytechnics, Oko and its Ado-Ekiti counterpart to withdraw the circular/statement proscribing/suspending union activities and such circular being publicized in each of the two campuses.
In a bid to address the key issues at stake, the Hon. Minister of Education, Alhaji Abrahim Skekarau, is to convene a tripartite meeting of councils, management of polytechnics and unions to resolve the impasse at Oko and Ado-Ekiti.
Meanwhile, the Hon. Minister, also gave strong assurances to meeting all other demands of ASUP.
On its part, the House of Representatives Committee on Education also gave assurance that the House would soon pass the Polytechnic Act Bill.
According to Dr Owaji, these key decisions were taken last Tuesday when ASUP met with the hon minister and the house committee on education. Consequently, chapters of ASUP nationwide were directed to “Maintain Status quo pending decision on National Executive Council (NEC) scheduled for March 2015 at Bauchi.
It will be recalled that ASUP was billed to embark on an indefinite strike last week following issues bothering on federal government’s inability to fulfil agreement.
Specifically, ASUP picked hole in the federal government’s refusal to honour its agreement with ASUP in 2011 over naming professors in Polytechnics as is done in universities.
They also opposed the decision by the federal government to reduce CONTISS 15 of lecturers to 14.
Dr Owaji further explained that state owned polytechnics joined the strike on a solidarity basis.
The River State Commissioner for Education, Dr Peters Nwagor has called on media practitioners in Rivers State to deploy their various communication platforms toward promoting government programmes and policies aimed at achieving sustainable development in the education sector. Dr. Nwagor made the appeal when members of the Etche Ethnic Practicing Journalists (EEPJ) paid him a courtesy visit in Office in Port Harcourt. The Commissioner emphasized the strategic role of the media in shaping public perception, promoting government initiatives, and supporting policies capable of improving the quality of education and human capital development in the state. According to him, constructive media engagement remains essential in creating public awareness on educational reforms, students’ welfare, infrastructural improvements, and other interventions being implemented by the state government. Speaking on the recent appro
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