The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, Delta State, has decried the shortage of staff in the two Polytechnics in the state.
They called on Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to as a matter of urgency address the situation.
The ASUP Zonal Coordinator, South-South & South-East, Mr Precious Nwakodo, and the chapter Chairmen, Delta State Polytechnics Ogwashi-Uku and Otefe, Mr Joseph Iwezu and Mr Henry Obeh respectively disclosed this at Ogwashi-Uku.
They said, “It became imperative after several attempts to make the Ifeanyi Okowa-led administration review its position on the issue of staff inadequacy.
‘‘The dearth of staff has been a serious problem for the two state-owned polytechnics as it has not employed new staff since 2008.
“Resigned, retired, and dismissed staff are yet to be replaced. This has left huge staff deficits in the institutions.”
“About 60 per cent of the staff of these polytechnics are full-time employees while others are employed on an ad-hoc basis”
On the issue of salary subvention policy in the state-owned polytechnics, “The union rejected the policy and has given Governor Okowa 30 days ultimatum to review his position.
“Since the introduction of this policy in April 2022, staff of the institutions now receive salaries three weeks into the new month which has a negative effect on the economic lives of these workers.
“This ugly trend has continued to worsen as the months pass by. Management of these institutions is finding it extremely difficult to raise several millions of naira monthly to augment what the government provides.”
They lamented that the policy had adverse consequences on tertiary education in the state.
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