The Association of Operators of Private Colleges of Education in Nigeria (AOPCOEN), has appealed to the Federal government to reopen privately owned Colleges of Education for academic activities.
This was contained in a letter written by the association to the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, lamenting the effects of the pandemic.
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A copy of letter, jointly signed by its Chairman, Prof. David Bamigbose and Secretary, Malam Idris, dated Wednesday, July 29, was made available to our correspondent in Abeokuta on Tuesday
They lamented that, the closure of schools had brought untold hardships on both academic and non- academic staff of the institutions.
AOPCOEN noted that, the reopening of their institutions would allow academics to contribute collectively to ongoing researches for solutions to the COVID -19 pandemic.
The letter reads in parts, “Our staff and students have been subjected to untold hardships due to redundancy occasioned by the temporary closure. The popular adage says: “idle hands are the devil’s workshop.
“We have always prided ourselves with consistence in our academics calendar which is one of the selling points of private colleges Education in Nigeria.
“We have been seriously affected by the closure and an intervention by your office will allow us to redeem our academics calendar.
“I wish to assure the honorable Minister that private colleges of Education in Nigeria have studied the guidelines given by the Federal Ministry of Education, and we are ready to comply with all the requirements which is to the benefits of staff, students, visitors and all the stakeholder.
“All other health protocols as stipulated by World Heath Organisation (WHO) and the Nigeria Center for diseases Control (NCDC) will also be taken into consideration.”
