The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has commended the Nigerian government’s decision to place a seven-year ban on the establishment of new federal tertiary institutions.
ASUU, which has long advocated against the proliferation of universities, said the government’s decision is in the right direction.
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This is contained in a statement signed and issued on Thursday by its president, Christopher Piwuna, a professor.
“For more than 10 years, our union has cried aloud on the harmful effects of establishing mushroom universities that the government has no plans to develop,” the statement said.
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“In total disregard for time-tested planning and ideas that hitherto went into establishing universities, we have watched universities turn into compensation for political patronage. So, ASUU was not surprised when the Minister of Education stated that over 30 universities had zero subscriptions for admission.”
Ban on establishing new federal institutions
The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, announced last week that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) had approved the moratorium on the establishment of federal universities.
Mr Alausa himself had long called on the National Assembly to halt considering new bills seeking to establish new universities. He said over 200 such bills are in both chambers of the parliament.
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He explained that the current challenge in Nigeria’s education sector is no longer just about access to federal tertiary education, but about addressing the proliferation, which has strained resources and led to the deterioration of infrastructure.
ASUU reacts
While commending the policy, ASUU said there is a need to go further by placing a moratorium on the establishment of private tertiary institutions.
The union also expressed concern that the government, after declaring access was not the problem facing university education in Nigeria, proceeded to announce the establishment of nine private universities.
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“If we agree that access is no longer an issue, why is the NUC giving more licenses to private universities? While ASUU acknowledges the rights of private individuals to establish universities, education must be tightly controlled to ensure quality. The government must therefore promote quality education and shun profiteering in the education sector,” the statement said.
“So why not place a moratorium on both public and private? Past and present administrations must cover their faces in shame for this scandalous proliferation of universities,” it said.
ASUU stated that it has drawn the authorities’ attention to the fact that spreading scarce resources over a large area is meaningless and wasteful.
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