…seeks minister’s intervention in Colleges of Education Act review
The Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU), has urged the newly constituted Governing Councils of Colleges of Education, to stick to their roles and avoid undue interference with colleges’ managements.
Excited about the Councils and appointments of Provosts and visitation panels to the new Federal Colleges of Education (COE), the President of COEASU, Nuhu Ogirima, in a statement made available to newsmen on Wednesday in Abuja, said the appointment of principal officers based on merit, was proof of the Federal Government’s pragmatic sense of purpose to ease access to tertiary teacher-education.
Ogirima emphasised the need for purposive and comprehensive handing over of the instructional mandate of the institutions to the appointed Provosts, and sought proper guidance from the education ministry and National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), on the processes of accessing available funding windows to enable a systematic but firm take-off of the new institutions.
He said: “To us as a Union, the composition of the various bodies is a step towards fulfilling the age-long quest for efficiency, consistent with the statute, in service delivery. Councils need be cognizant of their roles and should, as much as possible, avoid the overbearing tendencies more often than not exerted on Colleges’ Managements.
“The FME would need to address this critical concern with the desired urgency, given its implication on industrial relations in the institutions.”