Colleges of Education warn FG against scrapping

WARRI—SENIOR Staff Union of Colleges of Education in Nigeria, SSUCOEN, has cautioned the Federal Government of the dangers inherent in its intention to scrap all Colleges of Education in the country.
According to the union, it is the government’s attitude towards the teaching profession that has affected the quality of teaching and teaching practice in the country.
The union accused the Federal Government of neglecting or failing in its responsibilities to provide state-of-the-art-equipment, such as laboratories, lecture halls, chemical reagents and so on, to the colleges and instead left the various colleges to fund themselves through internally generated revenue.
The union expressed regret that in subventing the education sub-sector, the Federal Government had always favoured the universities, just as the children of the rich were always sent abroad for higher education, saying that it accounted for the disdain shown towards improving the quality and standards of infrastructure and teaching in the colleges.
In a statement issued at the end of its meeting held at the College of Education, Warri, Delta State, weekend and signed by the president of  SSUCOEN, Comrade Muhammed Sani Uwaisu, the union called on the government to have a re-think over the scrapping policy, noting that it would be catastrophic to the entire education system of the nation.
The union suggested that a relevant stakeholders’ meeting be called to brainstorm on the way forward, as only persons from the universities had always been appointed to positions where education matters were discussed, adding that while other nations were struggling to emulate Nigeria’s Basic Teachers’ Education system, the country’s authorities were angling to scrap it.

Source:http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/11/colleges-of-education-warn-fg-against-scrapping/