ASUU advocates for free education
The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has advocated that education should be a public good that should not be meant for sale and be should free and be made compulsory at all stages from primary level to Tertiary level.
This declaration was made on Friday 4th february 2022, during a symposium organised by the Academic Staff Union of Universities and Civil Societies and Civil Societies Committee, tagged: “The Role of ASUU in the Rescue of Public Education in Nigeria,” facilitated by Workers Education and Civil Society Liaison Committee (WECSLC), held at the lecture theatre, Faculty of Art, the University of Ibadan.
While delivering his lecture, National Treasurer of the union, Prof. Olusiji Sowande said there was an urgent need for stakeholders to rescue the nation’s education sector. He noted that “despite primary education being officially free and compulsory, it has been reported that 10.5 million of the country’s children aged 5-14 years are not in school.”
While delivering his lecture, the National Treasurer of the union, Prof. Olusiji Sowande, said: “The philosophy of education is mainly based on the development of an individual into a sound and effective human being, the full integration of an individual into the community and the provision of equal access to educational opportunities for all citizens of the country at primary, secondary and tertiary levels.”
“In 2021, over 600,000 candidates were found eligible for admission out of 1, 351,215 candidates that sat for the examination. The question is will the 170 Universities and 152 Polytechnics be able to absorb all the 600,000 eligible candidates?”
Commenting on struggles by the union towards the growth of education in Nigeria, the former DVC recalled the agitations by ASUU that led to the creation of TETFUND, saying: “Education Trust (ETF) Fund, now Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) was established as an intervention Agency by education Tax under Act No. 7 established in 1993 as amended by the Act No 40 of 1998 (now repealed and replaced with Tertiary Education Trust Fund Act 2011).”
Prof. Ambrose Emilolorun, in his opening remark, noted that the problem confronting public education needs to be confronted so that the schools can produce the best students. He also related most of the problems faced by students to inadequate funding, inadequate professional teachers, inadequate infrastructural facilities, lack of data, corruption, and insecurity.
However he pointed out that those who have seen ASUU’s struggle over the years as selfish are uninformed of the union’s struggle to maintain the education sector.
