Colleges Of Education TO Re-open on Monday, the 21st of July, 2014

Latest news reaching our news desk today, is that the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union, COEASU, which had on Thursday, suspended its seven-month-old strike for three months to allow the Federal Government look at their grievances, had announced their resumption.

The COEASU leadership board announced that every public colleges of education, which was currently shut as a result of the lecturer’s strike will be reopened on Monday, the 21st of July, 2014 said President of the union, Emmanuel Asagha.

It’ll be important to note that the suspension of the strike followed a meeting between the leadership of the union and Minister of Education, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau in FCT Abuja.

The president of the COEASU, Emmanuel Asagha who on Thursday at a meeting convened by the:
Governing Boards of federal government’s colleges of education, National Commission for Colleges of Education, NCCE, and provosts of federal government’s colleges across the country with the teachers agreed to suspend the strike for the next three months.

The college of education union also went on to give conditions for suspending the strike which was approved between the union and the federal government today, which are:

That there shall be no victimization of the teachers on the basis of the strike;
That salaries of the teachers so far withheld would be released in bulk;
That circular on the implementation of migration of the lower cadre would be released;
That the federal government would set up a technical committee to consider pending issues yet to be attended to by government.

The current suspension of the COEASU strike was the second landmark achievement by Shekarau, who had spent barely nine days in office.
The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) had last Saturday suspended its 10-month-old strike as a result of the Minister’s intervention.

Emmanuel Asagha also went on to inform journalists, that after the meeting with the newly appointed minister of education, he said and we quote:

“We’ve fought a good fight and together as a union, we’ve come this far. He said that the new Minister also went on to exhibited sincere commitment towards the resolution of the other lingering issues. We believe that the way he has spoken with upmost commitment, with the fear of God, because he emphasised that so much in his speeches; we believe that the issues will be resolved in no time. We have been told that a meeting has been called with the Salaries and Wages Commission as regards migration, even as per tomorrow, that shows that they are committed to resolving the issues.

“He has also told us that there is nothing that can challenge Presidential approval (to one of the union’s demands). We are sure, it would be resolved before the next three month ultimatum given to them.

With this much assurance, we’re all humans, so there’s bond to be some errors here and there and that is why the temporary climax will be such that we’ll be suspending the strike action for the next three months. I would have said three months and seven days, but, we have removed the seven days, we are allowing it for three months. And, with effect from Monday next, all schools will resume,” Asagha added.

With the above information, all college of education students are to resume academic activities on Monday, the 21st of July 2014.