ASUU chairman, Ogunyemi, has rejected reports credited to the union advising the federal government to put off the reopening of schools till 2021

– The professor explained that rather the union is more concerned about the government’s readiness to protect all students at all levels of education

– Ogunyemi, however, added that even of FG were to reopen schools right away, universities will remain closed because the crisis between lecturers and FG predates coronavirus

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has denied a trending report that the body called on the federal government to delay the reopening of schools till 2021 amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The clarification was issued by the chairman of ASUU, Professor Biodun Ogunyemi in a phone chat with Premium Times on Sunday, July 19.

According to the online news medium, Ogunyemi explained that what ASUU actually said was that the FG should only allow the reopening of schools when it is absolutely safe for students.

“First, we did not say schools should not be reopened until 2021. We only advised that schools be reopened anytime it is considered safe for our children,” he said.

ASUU chairman Ogunyemi says the union did not tell FG to postpone school reopening till 2021. Photo credit: NAN

Ogunyemi added that the federal government should go beyond simply developing guidelines for safe reopening on paper to ensuring that the guidelines are fully implemented for the safety of students from primary to tertiary institutions.

The ASUU chairman also noted that universities will not reopen even if other schools do because there is an unresolved between lecturers and the government.

“Talking of universities, it should be noted that the crises are beyond COVID-19. There are fundamental crises that will make universities reopening longer and impossible for now.

“We had long told the government our position and until they meet necessary conditions, universities are not resuming even after COVID,” Ogunyemi said.

Earlier this month, Campusinfo reported that ASUU President, Ogunyemi, faulted the government’s decision to reopen schools amid the spread of COVID -19 currently ravaging the country.

Ogunyemi, on Wednesday, July 1, noted that safety measures for pupils were not yet in place, adding that the government should first tell Nigerians who would provide the conditions for the reopening of schools.