The Chairman of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Calabar Zone, Dr. Aniekan Brown has called on various state governments that have been establishing universities to back it up with the necessary legislations.

Brown gave the advice while addressing journalists in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State recently.

He said expressed concerned on how states government established state universities without backing same with the laws.

The union said besides playing politics with it, such portend dangers as most state governors could use it to interfere with the autonomy of the institution.

According to Brown, for most state universities to live up to expectation, state governors should stop playing politics with their university system, but follow the laws as recorded in the Universities Miscellaneous Provision Amendment Act of 2012.

He said it was worrisome that only seven state-owned universities have their laws in conformity with the Universities Miscellaneous Provision Amendment Act of 2012, while 26 are partially compliant.

Brown added that for most of the universities, the non-demonetisation of the Act gives room for the university administrators and governors to trample on the autonomy of the universities by usurping the powers of Governing Councils and the Senate.

He explained that the evidence of this could be gleaned from the manipulation of the composition or non-constitution of Governing Councils.

He cited several examples starting with the Yobe State University law, saying that the law stipulates a five-year single tenure but it was repealed and replaced with a four-year renewable tenure for the position of vice chancellor.

In Eboyi State University, he said there is no chancellor and the state government is yet to constitute a new Governing Council since it was dissolved in November 2020.

At Enugu State University of Science and Technology, the vice chancellor has acted for 15 months adding that currently, the autonomy of the Kaduna State University is under intense threat as it is placed under the supervision of both the state Ministry of Finance despite the existence of governing council.

He stated that ASUU therefore calls on all concerned to immediately set in motion necessary steps for the domestication of the Universities (Miscellaneous Provision Amendment) Act to allow for exercise of autonomy in these state universities in line with the national and global standards.

Brown said another area of concern to the union is funding to state universities, pointing out that most state governors now rely on TETFUND and sometimes divert such money to establish new university.

ASUU urged state governors and university administrators that all hands should be on deck to avert impending crisis in the state owned universities.

Students of Makerere University who did not complete their examinations before President Yoweri Museveni closed institutions of learning across the country in June will resume their exams next week online.

A statement from the university Academic Registrar, Alfred Masikye Namoah, says the University Senate and Council have approved the alternative modes of assessment for the completion of semester one exams.

Prior to closure of schools for the second time in June, only finalist and postgraduate students at the university had completed their end of semester exams.

Masikye said the university scheduled the exams to run from September 13 to 30 online since the government has not yet reopened schools for all learners.

According to Masikye, colleges and schools have published detailed examination schedules and timetables

Alternative Assessment Modes

In the meantime,the Vice Chancellor of the institution, Prof Barnabas Nawangwe, told local media that Senate approved 14 alternative modes of assessment which must all be done online.

Some of them include group assignments, individual take home assignments, tests or questions with options, among others.

According to Prof Nawangwe, colleges and schools are free to choose any mode to assess their learners from the approved alternatives.

The university however, reminded students who had not completed payment of relevant fees to contact their respective college bursars to be guided on the new payment procedures.

According to the Makerere tuition policy, all students are supposed to have completed tuition fees before writing tests and examinations.

The management of the Federal University, Lokoja, says it has no plan to increase the institutions tuition fees.

The school’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Olayemi Akinwunmi disclosed this to journalists during a chat in his office at the permanent site of the university.

He was reacting to an online publication that FUL management had increased school fees, and people were about to protest.

He allayed the concerns already created in the minds of parents and guardians, saying that the story had no iota of truth on the increase of school fees.

According to him, the school only increased the acceptance fee. He explained that the institution’s new intakes would pay N55,000, including other charges, while returning students would pay N47,000.

He described the acceptance fee increased from N10,000 to N20,000 as optional, stating that those who could not afford it could try another institution.

Akinwunmi added that funding had become a major impediment to the university system’s development and appealed to the government to increase budgetary allocations to tertiary institutions, particularly new ones.

He regretted that most federal universities found it difficult to operate after IPPIS’ introduction adding that the system took away all the responsibilities of the university system and rendered the management ineffective.

He added that most of the structures and facilities at the institution’s permanent site had been vandalised because of continued stay at the Adankolo campus of the institution. Akinwunmi called for an urgent response to salvage the facilities from vandals.

The need to integrate indigenous languages with digital education resources in promoting literacy skills in line with 21^st century expectations has prompted stakeholders in the education sector to initiate and seek public-private partnerships to boost the availability of these resources to students in Nigeria.

This was the focus of dis­cussion at the just concluded August edition of Ed-tech Monday – an initiative of Mastercard Foundation in partnership with CcHub Limited.

This virtual discussion, themed “Access to Digital Resources” featured discussants from different segments of the education sector.

Speaking during the virtual discussion held in the last week of August, one of the participant Gideon Olanrewaju noted that a lack of digital skills and in-access to digital resources were the major challenges affecting digital learning in Nigeria while developed countries had gone ahead to adopt strategies such as the flip classroom method, this in-access to digital resources has limited the adoption of forward-looking strategies that enhance the learning experience.

He said the foundation of learning which begins with comprehension skills has been affected due to failure of educators at both private and public sectors to adopt languages best understood by the students.

Olarenwaju added that if the children are unable to have such foundational skills, it would be very difficult for them to access or use the knowledge that is obtainable from digital resources.

He called on the government and educators to employ the use of indigenous languag­es in teaching students.

He further enjoined government and stakeholders to invest in community level infrastructural development to find lasting solutions to the problem of access to digital resources.

Another participant, the Digital Content and Innovation Manager at Airtel Networks Limited, Bankole Alao, noted that connectivity remained a huge barrier to adopting digital learning in Nigeria.

He said the solution to this challenge lies in the readiness of stakeholders to collaborate.

Also speaking, Kayode Akinwale, a member of Virtual Learning Teachers, noted that COVID-19 had further proved the effectiveness of technology in digital learning for students and parents.

Akinwale identified connectivity cost, poor power supply, limited understanding of digital resources by students, teachers, and cost of digital devices as major barriers that Nigeria needed to break to guarantee equitable access to digital resources for the students.