Proprietors of private schools in the South-West have expressed concern over the conflict between the Federal Government and members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities and the consequent strike action that has left varsity gates locked for four months.
The private school proprietors appealed to both the ASUU and the Federal Government to urgently reach a compromise and bring the strike by the lecturers to an end in the interest of students and the nation’s education sector.
The National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools in the South-West Zone said this on Sunday in a communiqué at the end of its zonal delegates conference in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
In the communiqué read by the NAPPS president in the zone, Elder Dosu Idowu-Moses, the association said that both the government and ASUU should take concrete steps to resolve the lingering crisis in the interest of the country’s future leaders.
It read, “The Association decries in strong terms the face-off between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities and it should be called off in the interest of Nigerian future leaders.
“On ASUU and the Federal Government, we spoke Nicodemously on the national level to those we thought would listen but they are not listening. The students have been at home for about four months now. We do pray the children should not learn other vices from outside that might harm them as leaders of tomorrow.
“The Federal Government should please give us the listening ear. ASUU should please learn to broker peace with the Federal Government so that our children will go back to school. We are not compelling them, we are on our bended knees so that the leaders of tomorrow will be well equipped to meet the challenges of Nigeria.”
The private school proprietors however urged the Federal Government to be sincere in resolving the lingering strike by ASUU, stressing that the forced closure of campuses had continued to take its toll on not only the students but also their parents and the society in general.
