Reps panel wants govt to implement pact with ASUU

THE House of Representatives Committee Chairman on Education, Alhaji Farouk Lawan, has urged the Federal Government to immediately implement the agreement it reached with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in 2009 to stop further strike by the university teachers.He also said the agreement with the non-academic workers in the universities should be honoured by the government in order to ensure the smooth running of the institutions across the country.Speaking at an interactive session with journalists after attending the North West Zone Executive Committee meeting of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) held at the weekend at Gen. Hassan Usman Katsina House, Kawo, Kaduna, Lawal said that the house had passed two resolutions to stop ASUU from embarking on another strike and to urge government to respect the 2009 agreement.The chairman of the House Committee on Education, who identified the major problems facing education in Nigeria as poor funding, poor infrastructure and lack of supervision and inspection, noted that with the rapidly dwindling standard of education in the country, all stakeholders must contribute their quota to stop the rot that has engulfed the education sector.'This issue (of ASUU strike) was discussed by the House of Representatives, two resolutions were passed; we called on ASUU to suspend the strike and also to refrain as much as possible fromproceeding on any further strike. We also urged the Federal Government to ensure that the agreement that was signed in 2009 is respected and implemented and that the two sides need to go back to the negotiating table so that thorny issues can be addressed,' he said.Besides, speaking on solution to the various problems bedevilling the education sector, he said, 'Funding of education at various levels needs to be increased, monitoring needs to increase. Those resources going to the educational sector need to be judiciously and prudently utilised, and lecturers must continue to play their roles in a manner that would add value to our educational system.'We must make sure that schools serve as conducive environments for teaching and learning, provide the necessary infrastructure for teaching, encourage more people to serve as teachers and make sure that our teachers are qualified teachers and they receive on the job training, we also need to address the issue of supervision and inspection.'Lawal warned candidates who buy results in institutions of higher learning to disengage from such practices, saying that such 'candidates must understand that simply acquiring a certificate is not the end in itself but simply a means to an end but what is important is for somebody to acquire the required knowledge that would help him in the future in the society.
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