The Senior Staff Union in Colleges of Education, Nigeria (SSUCOEN) has decried how government pays less attention to teacher education, which, according to it, is the bedrock of every country’s development.
The union said no nation could progress without education, lamenting that less attention was being paid to teacher education across the country.
Speaking in Oyo State at the 40th National Delegate Conference of SSUCOEN with the theme: ‘Trade Union Practice in the Contemporary Nigerian Tertiary Education Sector: Clogs, Reflections and Panacea for Robust Industrial Climate’, the union President, Com. Danladi Msheliza, said the foundation of education, which was from primary and junior secondary school levels, was being eroded.
He said colleges of education were the only institutions mandated to train teachers, who would teach at the primary and junior secondary school levels.
Msheliza said attention was not being given to the sub-sector of the country, urging government to fund colleges of education more and bring in more facilities.
The guest speaker, Prof. Segun Ajiboye, said Federal Government should prioritise tertiary education and avoid strikes by unions, so as not to jeopardise the future of students.
SSUCOEN Federal College of Education Special Oyo Chapter Chairman, Com. Omobosola Oladipupo, said the theme of the event would address basic issues that were of concern to the union.
He said: “Trade unionism in Nigeria’s tertiary education subsector, we are considering the clause, the issues we are encountering. Issues delaying the progress of the agitation. Reflecting over the past years, what our activities and struggles are like. What we can point out as our achievements, and we are trying to see where and how we need to restrategise, to ensure we accomplish the mandate of the union.
“We have discovered that instead of striking all the time and getting nothing out of it, there should be other approaches which of course can attract the attention of government and other employers and individuals in the interest of the workforce. We are looking at contemporary issues and how they affect tertiary education.”
