FG, Poly Lecturers Meet to Avert Strike

Minister of Education, Ibrahim Sheikarau

Damilola Oyedele in Abuja

The Federal Government, represented by officials of the Ministry of Education and of the Labour and Productivity Ministry would hold a meeting with the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics in a bid to avert the indefinite strike which starts Wednesday.

The union, following a two week ultimatum which expires Wednesday is set to down tools over the failure of the government to honour an agreement reached four years ago for revamping the tertiary sub-sector.

The President of ASUP, in a conversation Monday disclosed that the meeting will hold Tuesday to discuss the issues.

He disclosed that the union would meeting with members of the Education committee in the House of Representatives this afternoon.

The union is demanding the withdrawal of a circular from the Ministry of Education suspending CONTISS 15 in Polytechnics. It is also demanding the dissolution of the governing councils of the Federal Polytechnics Oko, Anambra and in Ado Ekiti for autocratic activities.

Other grievances of the union include the continued discrimination against Polytechnic graduates in Public Service and in the labour market in Nigeria, the non release of the White Paper on the Visitation to Federal Polytechnics, the non implementation of CONTISS 15 Migration for the Lower cadres and its arrears as from 2009 when the salary structure was approved and the non establishment of a National Polytechnics Commission (NPC) and the wrongful continued recognition of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) as the regulatory body for Polytechnics.

Others are the non-constitution of Governing Councils for some Federal Polytechnics by the Federal Government, the snail-pace of the review of the Federal Polytechnics Act by the National Assembly and the gross under funding of the Polytechnic sub sector and continued lopsidedness in the disbursements of TETfund grants and other interventions clearly designed to the disadvantage of the polytechnic sector.