Sam Philip
The Federal Government has been called upon to earmark 20 percent of the total budgetary allocation of the nation to save the current situation in the academic sector of the nation.
President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke made that call at the opening ceremony of the 23rd National Delegates Conference (NDC) of ASUU taking place at the University of Benin, Benin City, Edo State on Saturday.
Prof Osodeke recommended that Federal Government would need to put in place, machineries that would monitor the fund is used expended with a view to ensuring transparency.
He said:,”At the heart of Nigeria’s crisis is the education sector, arguably the most neglected pillar of national development.
“Education, which should be the great equalizer and the foundation for innovation, creativity, productivity and informed and empowered citizenship, has been reduced to a perfunctory system for survival and broken promises.
“Though, UNESCO recommends that countries allocate at least 15–20% of their annual budgets to education, however, in Nigeria, the allocation often hovers around 6–8%, far below what is needed to meet national and global educational goals.
“As a result, infrastructure in public schools is dilapidated, laboratories and libraries are non-functional, and digital literacy is alarmingly low.
“The Nigerian Public University System, once a beacon in West Africa, is now frequently crippled by avoidable industrial actions.
“The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been forced to engage on countless strikes due to issues ranging from unpaid salaries and allowances to the urgent need for public university revitalization, university proliferation, and autonomy and these have unfortunately resulted in frequent disruptions of academic activities.
“Access to quality education remains grossly unequal. Children in urban areas, especially those from privileged backgrounds, have access to private institutions with better resources, while, millions of children in rural communities attend schools without roofs, walls, seats and trained teachers.”