Education, Labour Ministers Call For Better Management Of Conflicts In Institutions

The Minister of Education, Mallam AdamuAdamu, has urged Education CEOs to put in place articulate mechanisms and processes for addressing conflicts in a co-ordinated manner to avoid shutdown of institutions and disruption of academic calendars. He commended the Project Harmony initiative launched to promote industrial Harmony in educational institutions and pledged closer working relationship with all stakeholders to achieve the objectives of the Project.

Mallam Adamu made the call in Abuja while declaring open a three day Education Chief Executives Forum on Conflict Resolution in season of change, Resource scarcity and the new social contract on Wednesday, May 18, 2016. He was represented by the Executive Secretary, National Commission for Colleges of Education, Professor Monday Joshua

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, in a keynote address, urged Chief Executives of tertiary institutions in the country to be pro-active in evolving measures to guarantee peace and harmony in the institutions of higher learning. He stated that the present administration was looking up to the nation’s tertiary institutions to provide the intellectual direction that the government could leverage on to drive the change agenda.

According to the Minister of Labour and Employment, no useful fertilization of progressive idea can strive in an environment infested with crisis, suspicion and rivalry, hence the need for the Chief Executives in the Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education to work towards achieving an academic environment devoid of protests, strikes and shutdown.

The two Ministers spoke against the background of increasing frequency of conflicts that are resulting in shutdown of tertiary institutions with attendant negative consequences for quality of education. The Forum is facilitated by Federal Ministry of Education, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment,  Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress, Institute of Peace and Conflict Resolution, National Board for Technical Education, National Commission for Colleges of Education, Nigeria Institute of Public Relations and Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators.

The Forum marks the first time Leaders in Education are coming together with other critical stakeholders to address the issues of conflicts and shutdown of institutions in the spirit of collective effort and responsibility. Delegates to the Forum are drawn from Tertiary Institutions, Ministries of Education, Regulatory Agencies and Labour Unions.

The Forum ends on Friday, 20th May, 2016

Ibrahim Jamiu,

For: National Steering Committee

PROJECT HARMONY.

MAY 18, 2016.