Scheme Of Service: ASUP Gives FG 15-Day Strike Ultimatum

A 15-day ultimatum has been issued to the Tinubu-led Federal government by the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), to suspend the newly introduced Scheme of Service (SOS) for Polytechnics staff or face strike action.

The polytechnic union said the scheme can’t be introduced until all points of contention are addressed by the government.

The Zonal Coordinator Zone A of ASUP, Abdulazeez Badaru, who made the position of the union known in a press conference in Kaduna on Friday, said the scheme lacks inclusive inputs from stakeholders, particularly from the union, vowing to pursue the issue to a logical conclusion.

Badaru also expressed concerns that the scheme as it is, could be detrimental to the polytechnic sector.

He explained that the importation of sub-tertiary level qualifications, such as the National Skills Qualifications (NSQ), as obligatory prerequisites for the career advancement of academic staff within the polytechnic is deemed laughable.

The ASUP Coordinator further explained that NSQ lacked substantive value in enhancing the delivery of curricula at the tertiary level in polytechnics, serving as an undue burden without corresponding professional development.

“The current document is opposed unless all points of contention are addressed”.

“We wish to stress that we studied the document thoroughly and we are committed to pursuing these issues to their logical conclusions.

“It is crucial to highlight that we have issued a 15-day ultimatum to the Federal Government effective July 8, 2024, to suspend the implementation of this rough work called “Scheme of Service for the Polytechnics” or face diverse forms of industrial action by our union,” he said.