Following the Directive of the National Universities Commission that universities should commence academic activities on January 18th with adherence to COVID-19 protocols in hostels and lecture halls, the Academic Staff Union of Universities said the institutions were not ready for safe reopening.
This statement was disclosed by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Sunday in an interview with newsmen.
ASUU stated that although its members were ready to start work, the government had not put measures in place for the safe reopening of schools and its concern came amid COVID-19 cases and deaths, which rose to 99,063 and 1,350 respectively on Saturday.
Adeola Egbedokun, the union Chairman at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Osun State confirmed that classroom and hostel situations in universities do not in any way confirm with COVID-19 protocols and no preparations had been made so far for the safe re-opening of universities. He urged parents to insist on safety before re-opening.
According to Egbedokun,
“COVID-19 is very real and this second wave is as real as described. We cannot afford to toy with our health and the health of our dear students in the name of resumption, which is politically motivated.
There are no preparations for safe re-opening of the universities and I think parents must insist on safe re-opening. The current classroom and hostel configurations in our universities do not in any way conform with the PTF (Presidential Task Force) on COVID-19 protocols. There is no way universities can achieve that. I have said this elsewhere, that rather than for the government to have addressed the obvious deficits in the public universities during the lockdown and strike, they were playing to the gallery.”
Adebayo Oni, the Chairman of ASUU-FUNAAB, on Sunday in an interview with newsmen said,
“The lecture halls are overcrowded. As of today, on my own campus, I have not seen any facility for hand washing Who is to provide sanitizers? Do you expect lecturers to provide sanitizers for themselves?
Fumigation of the environment from time to time should be done, How do you cope with students’ surge and the challenge of power supply ?
The fact is that under the circumstances and looking at the threat of the figure, going physical with students would be more disastrous. Conducting physical sessions, physical lectures with students would be more disastrous.
The truth of the matter is that we now propose a mixed model of online teaching and probably some level of physical teachings.
Even online teaching also comes with its own facilities which are not readily available.
We don’t want to be pessimistic to say that it is not going to be workable. However, it is going to be at the risk of our lives and the lives of our students if the required facilities are not provided by the government.
The truth is that the facilities to cope with the pandemic are not available in our institutions. It appears the government is not ready and our institutions are not helpful.”
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) therefore urged the management of the university to ensure compliance with COVID-19 protocols on resumption and also urged parents to insist on safety before re-opening.
