President Muhammadu Buhari’s insistence that university lecturers who have been on strike over past six months, will not be paid for the period, has stalled the negotiations between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, revealed this to State House correspondents during his appearance at the weekly press briefing organised by the Presidential Communication Team, at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja on Thursday.
Adamu said all contentious issues between the government and ASUU had been settled except the group’s quest for members’ salaries for the period of strike be paid, a demand that Buhari has flatly objected to.
He stated that the President’s position had been communicated to the lecturers who are being awaited to call off the strike.
The Minister explained that Buhari was intent on curbing the excesses of trade unions that want to be paid for work not done.
Adamu further disclosed that the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) payment system proposed by ASUU has outscored the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) already in use by government and which the lecturers are kicking against.
He also debunked the report that UTAS had not been approved by government as the payment platform for University lecturers, even as he disclosed that IPPIS has now accommodated lecturers’ wages while they are on sabbatical leave.
The Minister further stated that the government has proposed new salaries for trade unions in the education sector, including Senior Staff Association of Nigerian University (SSANU), the Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities and Allied Institutions (NASU) and the National Association of Academic Technologists, (NAAT), which they have accepted in principle and are now consulting with their members with a view to calling off their separate strikes or proposed industrial actions in the next one month.
He said the federal government would not bear liability to compensate students grounded for six months over lost time, saying that if the students are determined to get compensated, they can take ASUU to court and claim for damages incurred over strike period.
Adamu, also called for crackdown on perpetrators of examination malpractice, which he said has been covered to be a cartel.
He called on the examiners to work closely with law enforcement agencies to crack down on examination malpractice.
According to him, despite efforts to raise the integrity of the examination system in schools nationwide, the Ministry still grapples with malpractice perpetrated both at the exams councils and school levels.
He lauded the Joint Admissions Matriculation Board for its efforts at stemming malpractice, saying more works need to be done.
The Minister also said that the Buhari’s administration has expended a total of N6,003,947,848,237 in capital and recurrent expenditure in the education sector in the last seven years.
He said this was in addition to interventions from TETFund and UBEC amounting to N2.5 trillion and N553,134,967,498 respectively in capital investment.
“We must also note and appreciate the huge investments from States and the private sector at all levels of our educational system. We will continue to improve on the implementation of the Ministerial Strategic Plan (MSP) all through to 2023 for the overall development of the education sector and the Nigerian nation.
“We will continue to create the necessary enabling environment to attract more and more private sector investment. We shall hand over a better education sector than we met it”, Adamu said.
He further declared that the number of out of school children has dropped from an estimated 13 million to 6.9 million, with an impressive enrollment from online states of Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Sokoto, Gombe, Bauchi, Adamawa, Taraba, Rivers and Ebonyi.
He linked the increased enrollment to the activities of the Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA).
