The Academic Staff Union of Universities has said the union is in support of the decision of the Federal Government to Postpone the conduct of the 2020 West African Senior School Certificate Examination earlier scheduled to commence on August 4 until it is safe to reopen.
According to the ASUU President, Prof Biodun Ogunyemi, no reasonable government would take such chances unless parents would be told to sign an undertaking.
Ogunyemi said, “Look, Kenya has said they have closed all their schools till next year (2021); they too have exams to write. Safety first. If it means closing the schools until next year to safeguard the lives of Nigerian children and safeguard the health of all Nigerians, so be it.
“ If they need to cancel admission for the year, it is good for them. Life matters first, people must have a life first before they can go to university. Are the universities ready to work now?”
The ASUU President, however, stated that if the Government is able to put all the things in place, including social and physical distancing, sanitisers, kitting the children, decontamination with water flowing in the schools and all the gadgets, as well as other necessary protocols, they can go ahead to reopen the schools but if not, they shouldn’t experiment with the lives of the students.
He stated that it is not just about giving guidelines and putting things on papers but ensuring the guidelines are implemented from primary schools to tertiary institutions”.
Concerning the issue of reopening Universities, Prof. Biodun said that universities may not be reopened even if the federal government orders the resumption of all schools because the issues universities are battling with the Federal Government is way beyond the current health crisis.
According to him, “there are fundamental crises that will make universities reopening longer and impossible for now. We had long told the government our position and until they meet necessary conditions, universities are not resuming even after the pandemic”.
