College of Education Lecturers Start Indefinite Strike

COEASU, an acronym of the Colleges of
Education Academic Staff Union has started on
an indefinite strike in order to “salvage the
institutions from total collapse” Daily Trust
reported
The strike was called on Monday, leading to
the suspension of academic activities at the
Federal Colleges of education nationwide.
The lecturers are concerned over the Federal
Government’s Integrated Personnel Payment
System (IPPS) as well as on the decaying
infrastructure in the colleges. The strike came
soon after university lecturers ended a long-
drawn industrial action that lasted nearly six
months.
An official of COAESU, who does not want to
be named because he was not authorised to
speak, said the union went on strike because it
appeared this was the “only language that the
Federal Government understands.”
“Our colleges are rotting away; no befitting
libraries, hostels, lecture halls and other
structures. The books in our libraries today are
outdated,” he said. The official said colleges of
education needed adequate funds for
transformation to enable them provide the
expected services to the nation.
“Another vital issue which COEASU wants
government to address is the implementation
of migration on its junior staff to the IPPS
system…. COEASU wants government to stop
the implementation of IPPS on the colleges of
education because it will disrupt its progress,”
he said.
He said “colleges of education as teacher-
training institutions have unique features
different from that of universities. We have
teacher training and teaching practice
programmes which are basic instruments for
producing qualitative teachers but government
is not allocating funds for these programmes.”
The official added that colleges of education
are sponsoring their products for such
programmes out of their salary allocations,
and that if the IPPS was implemented these
programmes would automatically be wiped out
from the system.