FG, COEASU Move To Save Colleges Of Education From Collapse

Vice president and Northeast zonal coordinator of the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU), Malam Mohammed Bello Umar, said the union and the federal government have arrived at measures to address the challenges facing colleges of education in the country.

He identified some of the challenges to include paying suitable allowances to teachers and absence of salary packages that meet current realities.

Speaking with journalists in Bauchi yesterday, Mohammed Bello Umar recalled that this development was achieved as a result of the reconciliation committee that was formed by federal government under former executive secretary of the National Commission for the Colleges of Education (NCCE), Professor Kabir Ishaque with three other professors drawn from the university system and with representation from the federal government.

COEASU had embarked on a warning strike over what it described as lackadaisical attitude of the government in handling problems concerning Nigerian Colleges of Education.

Umar said it was not the intention of the union to embark on the seven-week strike, but after failed visits, lobbying and efforts made to draw the attention of the federal government to address the lingering issues, the union had no choice than to embark on the strike to revive education at the basic level.