konknaijaboy | On 19, Jul 2013

The Minister of Education, Ruqayyatu Rufa’i has made a plea to the Academic Staff Union of Universities ASUU to call off their strike and return to classes.

She made the call today in an interview with newsmen after a workshop on World Bank Initiated Africa Centres of Excellence (ACE) Project in Abuja.

We are still pleading with them, let them do all they can to make our students return to classes. We are talking, and we will continue to talk. We are also meeting with all stakeholders to resolve the crisis, and we are confident that very soon, the strike will be called off,” Ms. Rufa’i said.

The minister didn’t stop there and said the government was working hard to change the university system and make it better which is the main demand of the striking lecturers.

Earlier, speaking at the workshop, the minister said that the ACE project was a higher education project seeking to promote regional specialisation among participating universities within the Science, Technology and Mathematics (STEM) areas. She said it addresses particular common regional development challenges and strengthens the capacities of those universities to deliver high quality training and applied research.