Strike: Parents withdraw pupils from FUTA staff school

  Following the strike embarked upon by the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, parents of pupils at the staff school of the Federal Universities of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, have started withdrawing their wards.

Members of the association are protesting the disengagement of the teachers of the staff school by the Federal Ministry of Education.


They were reportedly sacked last December following a directive that all primary schools in the federal universities be allowed to operate independently.

Following the sacking, parents have started withdrawing their children from the school.

One of the parents, who identified herself as Mrs. Faduke, said she had to take her children to another school so that they would not be caught in the crisis.

She said, “I had to withdraw my children because their mates in other schools were moving on with their studies while my children were at home. The staff school used to be one of the best in the town but with what is going on there now, I don’t think it is good to leave my children there.”

Another parent, a lecturer in the university, who craved anonymity, said the strike informed his decision to withdraw his child from the school.

The lecturer said, “One should not joke with the life of one’s children. I do not think the solution to the problem of the school will end quickly. Therefore, it is safer to enrol one’s child in another school as soon as possible.”

However, the FUTA Public Relations Officer, Mr. Adegbenro Adebanjo, said the development was not peculiar to the institution.

According to him, it is a national problem.

He said, “It is not a FUTA matter. It is a national issue. As of today, all SSANU members in the country are on strike and so we cannot treat FUTA’s case in isolation. What is happening here is happening in some other universities.

“Apparently, there is nothing anybody can do about it unless it is resolved by the Federal Government.