Students lament incessant strike by varsity teachers, appeal for dialogue

Strike is one of the many challenges facing higher education sub-sector. Oftentimes, valuable years are lost by the teeming Nigerian undergraduates due to the incessant disputes between university workers and the government. 

Industrial disputes between Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal Government is not new but stakeholders, including parents and students, have appealed to the university teachers to devise other means of channelling their grievances instead of holding the millions of Nigerian students to ransom.
 
They lamented that most of the students engage in unwholesome practices during this period while many do not even read, which overall affects the quality of graduates being churned out in our institutions.

They appealed to university workers to engage the government in a dialogue rather than face-off in the interest of the students and the nation’s education system.

Strikes not only affect the academic calendar, but it also disrupts the entire system and encourages laziness and idleness among the teeming Nigerian undergraduates.

Michael, a student of University of Abuja [UNIABUJA] said ‘’ Strike is one of the challenges faced by students which adversely affects the system.

“It is a period when we just sit in idleness waiting and praying for lectures to call off the action. For me during strike, I revise what I’ve been taught in school and cover-up for those ones I’ve not been taught through it Is not easy’’.
 
Esther a student from University of Ibadan [UI] said ‘’May God help us in this our country Nigeria, a place where we cannot study in peace without disruption from ASUU and the Federal Government. Its not easy to read during the strike, even if you take the books home, you will find it difficult to read it, it is only students that have passion for reading that actually during that period.”

Another student Chiamaka Esther from Oko Federal Polytechnic said ‘’Strikes cause setback for students, you will not graduate when you are supposed to and some students in the course of travelling home during this period, have lost their lives maybe because of accidents or violence.

For Sunday, a student from Ekiti State University (EKSU), ‘’ASUU should always consider the interest of students before going on strike.

“The teachers go on strike without considering the effect it has on our studies, they automatically turn a four years programme to five, six-seven years, and if eventually, they resume from the strike, the academic work is bound to be rushed and lecturers tend to bombard us with materials, impromptu classes and tests, all these affect students performances during examinations.

Although he noted that industrial disputes are normal in the system, Sunday said the only way to make up for the lost time is to acquire skills during this period.