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Tag: COEASU

  • COEASU gives N4m scholarship to six NCE students

    COEASU gives N4m scholarship to six NCE students

    Six outstanding Nigerian Certificate in Education (NCE) students have received N4 million scholarship from the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU).

    The NCE students are drawn from the six geopolitical zones of the country.

    The scholarship is part of COEASU’s 2025 World Teachers’ Day, which took place in Abuja.

    An ex-president of COEASU, Dr Smart Odunayo Olugbeko, gave the details at the celebration, which also featured the inauguration of the new National Officers’ Council of the union and an award ceremony.

    The event was organised under the theme “Teachers: Leading in Crisis, Reimagining the Future.”

    Dr Olugbeko, in his final address as COEASU president titled “Legacy of a Collective Progress,” said the scholarship formed part of COEASU’s National Scholarship Award for Outstanding NCE Students, introduced in 2024 to promote merit and academic excellence in teacher education.

    He said, “Following a rigorous national examination conducted by the Union, we are pleased to honour the best NCE students from each of the six geopolitical zones with a scholarship of N500,000 each. And to the overall best student in Nigeria, we present a scholarship of B1 million, a symbol of national pride and academic distinction.”

    He also announced the renaming of the national best student prize in honour of late Khalid Yunusa, a student of Jigawa State College of Education, Gumel, who tragically lost his life en route to the zonal stage of the scholarship examination in September.

    “In honour of his memory and the ideals he represented, the Union has resolved to rename the National Best NCE Student Award as the Khalid Yunusa Best NCE Student Award in Nigeria,” Olugbeko stated.

    He added that COEASU’s development partner, AFFIT, had also pledged to immortalise the deceased student through a scholarship for learners in his community.

    Dr Olugbeko, who served as COEASU President from 2021 to 2025, used the occasion to recount key milestones of his administration.

    Speaking at the event, Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, commended COEASU for maintaining constructive engagement with the government and contributing to reforms in the teacher education sub-sector.

    “Teachers are the custodians of stability and the architects of change. At the Ministry, we are driving a clear agenda to reposition the teaching profession, professionalising, empowering and rewarding teachers,” Alausa said.

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    Represented by Dr Iyabo Ali, a Director from the Ministry, the Minister reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to the Dual Mandate Policy, which enables Colleges of Education to run degree programmes alongside NCE programmes.

    The Minister lauded Dr Olugbeko’s leadership for fostering industrial harmony within the system and urged the incoming executive to build on the achievements recorded between 2021 and 2025.

    The new President of COEASU, Dr Ahmed Bazza, said the mandate given to him was clear to protect the welfare of members, advance the cause of teacher education, and build a stronger, more united COEASU.

    He said, “We shall, therefore, continue to engage the government and relevant agencies to ensure the full implementation of the basic instrument with which these aspirations of ours can be achieved, the FGN-COEASU 2010 Agreement.

    “We shall also ensure that the rights and privileges of our members are honoured as appropriate. We shall strengthen our advocacy for the repositioning of Colleges of Education, ensuring adequate funding, infrastructural development, and improved conditions for teaching practice and demonstration schools.”

  • COEASU demands release of white paper on NCE-B.Ed implementation

    COEASU demands release of white paper on NCE-B.Ed implementation

    The Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) has urged the Federal Government to fasttrack the release of the white paper enabling Colleges of Education (CoEs) to carry the dual mandate of producing NCE graduates and degrees graduates (NCE-B.Ed) in line with the Act establishing CoEs.

    The union said it was on track in the implementation of the bill signed into law on 12th June 2023 by the government. 

    The National President, COEASU), Dr. Smart Olugbeko explained that the CoEs were awaiting the white paper for implementation, following the conclusion and submission of a report since July 2023, by a committee set up by the Federal Ministry of Education to draw up modalities for smooth implementation of the Act.

    He spoke during the 2024 National Conference centred around Digital Pedagogy and the Implications for Nigeria in Abuja.

    The COEASU President said: “The ministry set up a committee to draw up the modalities for the implementation. The committee comprises representatives of NUC, NCCE and the ministry of education. The committee has since submitted its report to the minister of education, what is left is the white paper on the implementation which we believe in due course the minister will come up with the white paper for the implementation.

    “This is all about making Colleges of Education to be able to award degrees without changing the nomenclature because we believe whether it is a university or a college it’s about the nomenclature because in other climes we do have colleges that award degrees up till the PhD level that do not change their nomenclature so to us, the nomenclature should not be changed, we should be able to award degrees as Colleges of Education which the Act has given us the mandate to do

    “It’s a process; when a law is signed it has to be gazetted and it takes some time before it will be gazetted and the law was gazetted in July 2023. After gazetting there will have to be different consultation because it has to be carefully planned so there won’t be errors. It is a paradigm shift that needs to be carefully looked into and that is what the ministry is doing, to look at a way it will be implemented without causing any problems.

    “I can assure you that with the commitment of the minister, we are going to have the implementation done in due course.”

    The Chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission, Prof. Tunji Olaopa who threw his weight behind government’s approval for the dual certificate model for CoEs, charged the institutions to re-engineer their stability records and to be humble in their attitudes even as he added that contrary to insinuations in some quarters, the university system alone would not be able to produce the manpower that the country needs.

    He said: “If you must become degree awarding it means you must create space for degree professionals and if you want to kill that marriage by attitude, we do not know the value that the professor brings to that dual arrangement.

    A“Over time we at the policy level will reassess you and determine whether you actually deserve to be upgraded to a university. So it requires a lot of humility.”

    The Provost, Federal College of Education Technical, Ekiadolor -Benin, Edo State, Emmanuel Asagha, who described the Act as one of the best initiatives in the education sector, noted that most of the CoEs in the country have been awarding degrees through affiliation with universities but “using absolutely all the materials; human and material from the CoE system.”

    Asagha said: “It is just to say we are tired of this idea pretending to be working for another structure. It is nice to have students who have training from the NCE and still have an opportunity to upgrade to a degree which is obviously the ultimate for most candidates desiring tertiary education in Nigeria. It is better that people study NCE and are encouraged to do education to the degree level instead of studying NCE.

    General Secretary of COEASU Dr. Ahmed Baza explained that provisions of the Act have mandated that candidates who desire to attain a degree in Education must first possess the NCE certificate from a recognised College of Education.

    Baza said: “In the dual mandate you must have an NCE before you progress with it. It’s not directly with an SSCE result. For those students that have studied NCE they will transit to the degree programme for two years. We will not entertain others such as direct entry from secondary school because it will kill the system. You will have two stages of degrees coming in and we are advising the government to give preference to such people..

    “This system will really produce what we want as teachers. We also advise the government that anybody that goes through this system will be placed on Grade Level 9 and this has been agreed and signed. This will encourage our people to come in.”

    Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman insisted that in the 21st century, digital tools and research were no longer a choice, but a necessity for economic growth and stability.

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    Mamman, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Didi Walson-Jack, noted that the Renewed Hope Agenda of the current administration reflected in the education ministerial deliverables which were focused on bolstering research capacity and integrating digital pedagogy into the educational system.

    The Minister said: “The imperative of digital pedagogy and a research driven economy would accelerate the development of the nation. We express our commitment in leveraging research and digital technology to accelerate Nigeria’s economy. This synergy between governmental objectives and academic sphere is our collective dedication to fostering innovation, modding creation and sustainable growth in Nigeria.”

  • Colleges of Education lecturers threaten indefinite strike

    Colleges of Education lecturers threaten indefinite strike

    Lecturers in Colleges of Education under the auspices of Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) on Friday accused the federal government of stalling the growth of workers in the nation’s Colleges of Education through the Non promotion of lecturers in the system and withholding their checkoff dues in total violation of the Trade Union Act.

    The lecturers are not happy with the government over the stalling of renegotiation of its agreement with unions in the Sector, blaming the leadership of the Committee of Provosts for the stalled renegotiation and called on the Minister of Education to immediately call call the leadership to order or face a nation wide Industrial action.

    Addressing a news conference in Abuja, National President of the Union, Comrade Nuhu Ogirima said the union was giving the government two weeks within which to call the Chairman of the Committee of Provost, Prof Okechukwu Ogbuagu to order and recommence the renegotiation or face what he called system shut down”

    He also accused the Accountant General of the Federation of withholding check off dues of members of the union and contributions of staff into the staff welfare cooperative society in contravention of the Trade Union Act.

    While describing the action of the Accountant General as unacceptable, Comrade Ogirima said the Trade Union Act stipulates that check off dues shall be deducted from staff and remitted to the unions within two weeks, pointing out that it is an act of illegality for the government, through the Accountant General to hold on to union dues.

    He explained that the explanation from the office of the Accountant General was that the government has recently developed a new template for the payment of salaries which does not recognize check off due, adding that such an action was unacceptable as it violates the laws of the land.

    He reminded the Accountant General that withholding cooperative contributions from workers was also an illegal act saying “do we really need to remind government t that the deductions for cooperative societies are hard earned monies of staff struggling for survival amidst the contemporary exploitative and harsh economic realities of our dear country?

    Ogirima complained of the the shortfall in their salaries since 2015 and the Non payment of Peculiar Academic Allowances since 2014, saying “we know that the government is making effort to pay other sister institutions such allowances, bug in our own case, they are not bothered”.

    He expressed sadness that despite the Paris Club refund to states, several state government have refused to pay the salaries of lecturers in their Colleges of Education ranging from 8 to 28 months.

    He accused the Kaduna and Niger state governments of refusing to implement the CONPCASS salary structure in their states, but instead are still paying their lecturers based on the old CONTISS.

    He asked the Governors of the two states to take verifiable steps towards Implementing the current salary structure for the Colleges of Education, while asking the various states owing arrears and salary and promotion to commence immediate payment or face Industrial action.

    He said the government should not hold them responsible for any break down if Industrial harmony in the Sector, stressing they may be compelled to “do what we are not known for. We have refrained from going on strike because of the respect we have for the President and because of the intervention of National Commission for Colleges of Education. But our patience is running out”.

  • Panel to review govt’s deal with ASUP, COEASU

    Panel to review govt’s deal with ASUP, COEASU

    THE Federal Government has inaugurated two committees to renegotiate the agreements it reached with the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) and Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) in 2010.

    The government said the agreements it had with the unions in 2010 were due for renegotiation since 2013, but the exercise did not take place because of some unforeseen circumstances.

    Minister of Education Malam Adamu Adamu inaugurated the teams in Abuja on Monday.

    Chairman of Governing Council, Federal Polytechnic, Damaturu, Mohammed Ababakar is to chair the team to renegotiate with ASUP.

    The Chairman of Governing Council, Federal College of Education, Obudu Dr. Obi Anthony will lead the team to renegotiate with COEASU.

    Adamu, in a statement by Director of Press and Public Relations in the ministry, Mrs. Chinenye Ihuoma, yesterday in Abuja, said President Muhammadu Buhari approved the reconstitution of the government teams and the beginning of renegotiation with the unions.

    He urged the members to study the agreements entered into with all the unions in the Colleges of Education and polytechnics and engage them with a view to reaching a workable and sustainable agreement.

    Few days after ASUU began an indefinite strike to press home their demand for better working condition, there are indications that higher education sector may soon witness more strike action as lecturers in polytechnics and colleges of education are bracing for another round of industrial action.

    Leaders of the polytechnics and colleges of education unions yesterday threatened to embark on industrial action, if the government continue to pay lip service to the welfare of their members and the working environment in their institutions.

    Expressing solidarity with ASUU in the struggle to restore sanity to universities and the education sector, General Secretary of the ASUP, Comrade Anderson Ezeibe, said the government must commence the implementation of agreements entered into with the union to forestall an impending crisis in the polytechnic sub sector.

  • Union urges Gov. El-Rufa’i to reopen Gidan Waya College

    Union urges Gov. El-Rufa’i to reopen Gidan Waya College

    Three unions of the Kaduna State College of Education, Gidan Waya, on Friday urged Gov. Nasiru El-Rufaí to reopen the institution which was closed down due the recent crisis in southern Kaduna.

    Officials of the College of Education Staff Union (COEASU), Non Academic Staff Union (NASU) and Senior Staff Union made the appeal at a joint congress meeting in Gidan Waya.

    Noah Danlami, the COEASU Chairman, said the appeal became necessary due to the “total return of normalcy in southern Kaduna in general and Gidan Waya in particular.”

    Danlami pointed out that primary and secondary schools as well as other businesses in the area have been in full operation and wondered why the governor was reluctant to reopen the institution.

    According to him, the closure of the college is counterproductive and negates government policy of providing free access to education to its citizens.

    He stressed that reopening the college would enable the Academic Planning Division of the institution to come up with modalities cover the time lost during the closure.

    The COEASU chairman, however, commended the Federal Government for launching Operation Harbin Kunama ll, which helped to restore normalcy to the area.

    Also, Sunday Sani, Chairman, Senior Staff Union of the college, said that the continued stay of students at home would make them more vulnerable to social vices.

    The Chairman of NASU, Danjuma Amar, noted with satisfaction that the college did not lose either a staff or student during the southern Kaduna crisis.

    He therefore called on the state government to allow for full resumption of academic activities.

    The unions also appealed to the government to exclude the institution from the Treasury Single Account and implement the 65-year retirement policy for staff.

    They further canvassed for the implementation of CONPCASS and CONTEDISS salary structure, to stop brain drain in the institution.

  • Don’t politicise new varsities, COEASU advises Fed Govt

    The Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU), has advised Federal Government against politicising the newly upgraded colleges of education.

    The Federal Government had on May 20, announced the upgrading of Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, Alvan-Ikoku College of Education, Owerri,Federal College of Education, Zaria and Federal College of Education, Kano.

    The National Vice-President of COEASU, who doubles as the Southwest zonal coordinator of the union, Smart Olugbeko, alleged that subterranean moves were on by some politicians to truncate the government’s move. He said those behind this felt their zones were short-changed.

    He advised those he described as “saboteurs” to acquaint themselves with the processes and procedures that led to the upgrade of the colleges.

    According to him, the colleges were upgraded on academic and professional considerations devoid of ethnicity and politics,

    He said: “These are colleges that have been producing graduates in various education disciplines for the past 30 years.

    “Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, for instance, is 51 years old and has been running degree courses since 1981 and has all her degree courses fully accredited.”

    Olugbeko also said the various committees set up by the Federal Government at various times found the facilities and personnels in the Colleges to have measured up to university standard and that was why the committees recommended the change in status of the institutions.

    The COEASU leader therefore, advised Buhari’s administration to quickly initiate the bill towards amending the law of the colleges to reflect the new status.

    This initiative, according to him, has the potential of increasing access to teacher education by forty percent and further promote the expected professionalism in teaching.

    He lamented how the first pronouncement by the former Education Minister, Professor Ruqqayyatu Rufai in 2010 was politicised and never allowed to see the light of the day.

    Noting that the colleges still run NCE and degree programmes of affiliate universities that cannot be stopped abruptly and also the peculiarities of the institutions cannot be jettisoned with fiat, he insisted that the old system should be allowed to phase out while the new system is developed.

    The vice-president advised that a Transition Committee be set up comprising representatives of the Federal Ministry of Education, National Universities Commission,  National Commission for Colleges of Education and Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union to work out the modalities of transiting the colleges to their new status.

  • Adeyemi COEASU insists on internal candidate as new provost

    Adeyemi COEASU insists on internal candidate as new provost

    The Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) at the Adeyemi College of Education (ACE), Ondo, has urged the federal government to appoint an internal candidate among the three candidates shortlisted for the appointment of a new provost of the institution.

    The position became vacant following the expiration of the tenure of the former provost, Prof. Idowu Adeyemi, who served for eight years.

    In a statement issued and signed by the vice chairman of the union, Tope Ozigbe and General Secretary, Ade Adepoju, it vowed to resist the imposition of any candidate lacks experience in the teaching and administration of the College of Education system.

    The union said it is not intimidated by the insinuations allegedly made by a group which called itself old students of the college on their recent advertorial in a national daily.

    It alleged further that the group is supporting the appointment of a new provost who has neither worked in the college nor believes in the system obtainable in a college of education.

    COEASU emphasised that its position on the appointment of a new provost is in tandem with obtains in other parts of the world where Chief Executive of academic institutions are sourced from among the academics within the system.

  • COEASU: appoint provost from within…or

    As the selection for a new Provost continues at the Adeyemi College of Education (ACE) in Ondo, Ondo State, the institution’s chapter of the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) has advised the Federal Government to appoint a provost for the union from competent Chief Lecturers in the institution.

    It threatened to resist any attempt to appoint an external candidate as provost, vowing that such person would not enjoy the cooperation of the workers.

    According to the union, three candidates are being interviewed for the job – one of them, a professor from another institution, and the other two lecturers in the college.

    Former Provost, Idowu Adeyemi who served the college for eight years, retired early June and Dr Olufemi Olajuyigbe, the former deputy provost, took over as Acting Provost on June 23.

    In a statement signed by the Vice Chairman, Tope Ozigbe, and General Secretary, Ade Adepoju, the union alleged that the selection was being manipulated in favour of a professor.

    It stressed that the college needs someone who understands the system to improve it, adding that it would be counter-productive if the Federal Government should go ahead to appoint someone from the university as provost.

    The union claimed that some unnamed people were writing petitions to discredit their qualified members.

  • ASUP/COEASU resumption: Students recount pains of prolonged strikes

    ASUP/COEASU resumption: Students recount pains of prolonged strikes

    POLYTECHNIC and College of Education students who wasted close to a year during the prolonged strike by the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) and the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) have described the industrial action as a wasted venture.

    ASUP and COEASU suspended their strike after the intervention of the newly appointed Minister of Education, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau.

    In separate reactions yesterday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, the students regretted that the strike caused socio-psychological havocs in their lives, leading to unwanted pregnancies and involvement in crimes.

    The Student Union Government (SUG) President of Federal College of Education Technical Omoku, Rivers State,   Comrade Ekeakita Hector Chinem, said:  ”the strike is a total failure and had caused more pains to students than what the management intended to achieve.”

    He said the action frustrated students, adding that more than 25% of their female counterparts are carrying unwanted pregnancies while some of the males are wasting in police cells for various offences.

    He said: “This is a shame on the side of the Hon. Minister of State for Education Chief Nyesom Wike who was in-change to amicably resolve the striking issue but failed to do so. As far as I am concerned it is an act of wickedness.

    ”With the level of unwanted pregnancies we have witnessed in my campus, it shows that the female students were prostituting during the period of strike and that was what Wike was able to achieve.”

    The SUG President of Federal Polytechnic Oko Anambra State, Comrade Nwite Ogbonna aka Okadigbo said keeping the students out of classroom for that long shows that the federal government has no feeling for polytechnic sector.

    According to him: “I was going to graduate last year before the strike started. Now if I were in year one intending to enter year two before the strike started, would I return to year one after staying close to a year at home? This is an issue that needs to be addressed.”

    A student of Alvan-Ikoku Federal Polytechnic Imo State, Onyiyechi Akajigba said: “One of my friends got pregnant but died why aborting it. It will go down on record that this government has no regard for the future of polytechnics and Collage of Education students.”

     

     

  • COEASU suspends strike for three months

    COEASU suspends strike for three months

    the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) yesterday suspended its seven-month old strike for three months to allow the Federal Government examine its grievances.

    The union said it was suspending the strike from July 21 to give room for negotiation with the government.

    COEASU President Dr. Emmanuel Asagha addressed reporters yestetrday in Abuja at the end of a meeting with the Minister of Education, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau.

    He said: “There are so many factors involved. We have fought a good fight and we have brought ourselves this far. The new minister has exhibited sincere commitment towards the resolution of the lingering issues. We believe that the way he has spoken, with utmost commitment with the fear of God, having emphasised that so seriously in his various speeches, we believe that the issues will be resolved in no time…”