Branches of the Academic Staff Union of Universities on Sunday assessed COVID-19 protocols in the universities and said the institutions were not ready for safe reopening.
ASUU said although its members were ready to start work, government had not put measures in place for safe reopening of the schools.
ASUU’s concern came amid coronavirus cases and deaths, which rose to 99,063 and 1,350 respectively on Saturday.
The union Chairman at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Osun State, Dr Adeola Egbedokun, in an interview with one of our correspondents, said classroom and hostel situations in universities did not in any way conform with COVID-19 protocols.
Egbedokun further said no preparations had been made so far for the safe re-opening of the universities and urged parents to insist on safety before.
He said, “COVID-19 is very real and this second wave is as real as described. We cannot afford to toy with our health and the health of our dear students in the name of resumption, which is politically motivated.
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“There are no preparations for safe re-opening of the universities and I think parents must insist on safe re-opening. The current classroom and hostel configurations in our universities do not in any way conform with the PTF (Presidential Task Force) on COVID-19 protocols. There is no way universities can achieve that. I have said this elsewhere, that rather than for government to have addressed the obvious deficits in the public universities during the lockdown and strike, they were playing to the gallery.”
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But the OAU spokesperson, Abiodun Olanrewaju, said the university management was ready for resumption and had put in place “a lot in relation to the COVID-19 protocols” in a bid to ensure safety.
ASUU at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta said the university was not ready to cope with COVID-19 challenges.
The Chairman of ASUU-FUNAAB, Dr Adebayo Oni, in an interview with one of our correspondents on Sunday, stated, “The lectures halls are overcrowded. As of today, in my own campus, I have not seen any facility for hand washing Who is to provide sanitisers? Do you expect lecturers to provide sanitisers for themselves?
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