The Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union, COEASU, has accused the Federal Government of sidelining the union over what it describes as a drastic and hasty decision to exempt prospective National Certificate in Education, NCE, students from sitting the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME.
In a communiqué read by the President of COEASU, Ahmed Lawan, after the union’s National Executive Council meeting, the lecturers acknowledged the declining enrolment in colleges of education and agriculture, but insisted that exempting candidates from UTME is not the solution.
Instead, the union says government must address the long-standing neglect and poor perception of the teaching profession.
The COEASU President noted that in the last UTME, about ninety-eight percent of candidates applied to universities, while only about one percent sought admission into colleges of education and polytechnics.
According to him, the trend reflects what he described as the consistent relegation of teacher education by successive governments.
However, COEASU commended the Federal Government for making significant progress in the implementation of the 2010 agreement with the union, while calling for similar commitment to other unions within the colleges to sustain industrial harmony.
The union also called on Nigerians to support teacher education and prevent the sector from going into extinction.
(Editor: Ada Ononye)
