…Demand review of student loan conditions

From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja

The National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) have lamented the hike in school fees of tertiary institutions in the country.

NAAT also decried the federal government’s decision to dissolve the Governing Councils of Federal Universities and demanded their immediate reinstatement to avoid creating vacuum in the management of Nigerian tertiary Institutions.

The union President, Ibeji Nwokoma in a statement over the weekend, further expressed worry over the conditions attached to assessing the recently approved student loan policy and asked for its review.

Nwokoma furher criticized the Core Curriculum Minimum Academic Standards (CCMAS) developed by the National Universities Commission (NUC) for the administration and operation of the Nigerian University Academic System for containing obvious errors or omission and commission.

“We observed obvious errors of omission and commission as contained in the current CCMAS document under review, for example on page 70 under Engineering and Technology which is similar for all other disciplines.

“The CCMAS document under review was prepared and circulated without any input from members of NlAAT, who are critical stakeholders in the laboratories/workshops/studios as one of the Tripods upon which anly University! is built; Classroom, the Library and the laboratory/workshop/studio/research farm:

“We observed that going by the document in reference, the name of Academic Technologist was conspicuously omitted: Technologists’ jobs were assigned to Academics support personnel, who are alien to the University system, as if to add salt to injury, this non existing staff are also being recommended to be engaged as temporary staff according to the CCMAS document under review (pages 70-. 117).

“This is an aberration, capable of destroying the values of any Academic program in the area of laboratory, Workshop, Studio or Research farm practices; the document is also silent on the minimum number of Academic Technologists to man Laboratory, Workshop, Studio or Research farm for effective and efficient running of an Academic program.” The statement read.

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