Abuja — The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, yesterday called for an education summit to thrash out issues that are militating against the educational development of the country even as it handed down to the political class an agenda they must include in their manifestos if they want to get the votes of the intelligentsia.

Buttressing the dire situation of the sector, Mr. Ike Onyechere, founding Chairman of Exam Ethics International, a non-governmental organisation, warned that the country would be doomed unless education is redeemed from its abysmal condition.

ASUU president, Prof. Ukachukwu Awuzie, who stated his union's position at a consultative conference organised by the Joint Education Stakeholders Action Coalition, JESAC, in Abuja yesterday, asked that education should be on the first line charge.

" It is essential that all candidates /parties seeking our support should give details of how they would fund education in writing and in their manifestoes and not just when they come to address rallies.

"Our union believes that there must be in Nigeria a vision for education endogenous to the country, based upon a new approach to education in theory and in practice.

The very wide gap between the existing educational policies and programme, and the transformational requirements must be urgently addressed through an education summit."

For that reason, the manifestoes of the parties and candidates for leadership must if they believe in the summit and how the National Education Summit must search for and find answers to the following:

"What philosophical framework would best guide Nigerian education towards all-round transformation? What went wrong with educational development in the primary, secondary and tertiary education, vocational/technical and adult and non-formal subsectors? What must be done to repair the identified ills?"

Other questions to which ASUU requires answers include, the extent to which existing policies and programmes are capable of achieving the desired transformation; alternative pathways for achieving the transformative educational delivery in a "globalizing environment".

Noting that the provision of free and compulsory education as well as adult literacy was practicable, Awuzie said the conditionality of "if and when practicable" attached to their provision constitutionally should be expunged.

He also called for the stoppage of the current practice where up to 80 per cent of staff of tertiary institutions come from the catchment areas as the hallmark of universities and other higher institutions was the universality of the composition of their staff.

He decried the reference to governors as Executive Governors since it is implied and that it is like referring to the Speaker of a House of Assembly as Legislative Speaker.

On his part, Onyechere said: "Unless we redeem our education, it is difficult to reap the benefits of our potentials."

He also condemned the situation where polytechnics offer 65 per cent courses in business and the arts while only 35 per cent of the courses are devoted to technical courses.