OAU Exams May Not Hold, It Should Be Postponed – ASUU

The striking Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has warned the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile Ife, against conducting examinations when 70 per cent of the courses have not been taught.

The university which called back its students to school on Monday has scheduled the examinations to start on January 14.

But members of the union at the university who are observing the strike called by their national body, said the examinations would be “null and void” if conducted and warned the students against participating in the examinations.

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Lecturers of the university are divided over the strike as those of them in the parallel Congress of Universities Academics (CONUA) refused to join in the nationwide strike of ASUU which began on November 4.

The management of OAU, which is bent on institutionalising a stable academic calendar, said the examination will begin on January 14 despite the fact that some students have not been receiving lectures for the past three months.

However, ASUU in an open letter to the students signed by its chaiman, Adeola Egbedokun, warned that any examination conducted by the school will be null and void.

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The lecturers said a minimum of 12 weeks teaching, one compulsory lecture free week and two weeks of examination as provided by the university regulations had not been adhered to.

The union also maintained that students have not taken about 70 percent of lectures before the ASUU strike.

ASUU also accused OAU management of pressurising its members to set examination questions for courses and topics not taught.

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“All these infractions are attempts by the University administration to whittle down the quality of teaching and it calls to question the integrity of the degree of this university under this current administration.

“We want to assure all students that any examination conducted under this current situation where about 70 percent of these courses have not been concluded is null and void”, the open letter partly read.

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The university management is yet to react to ASUU’s allegations that it was pressurising lecturers to set questions for courses not taken as the telephone of the university’s spokesperson, Abiodun Olanrewaju, was off at the time of filing this report

Meanwhile, some students who spoke with our correspodent wondered why the university will find “joy in the failure of its students”

One of them, Aisha Ogunrounmu, said: “We hope the university will add weeks for students to learn effectively to avoid mass failure.”

www.sojworld.com (c) January 7, 2018.