Veritas University, Abuja is putting on hold its planned resumption that would have enabled final year students to round off their studies at most by September. A management statement by the university said this is in compliance with the latest directive of the Federal Government of Nigeria to that effect.
Intervention understands that through certain innovations in digital knowledge transfer, Veritas University has basically managed to run the semester without much hitches or loses to the studentry. It was thus able to announce a process of phased resumption to normalise the academic calendar as soon as the initial green light from the Federal Government. That was, however, before the bombshell earlier this week from Mallam Adamu Adamu, the Minister for Education, reversing the green light. Now, like every other university, it has to go back to the drawing board.
But it is promising to immediately make available to students any information about new framework for possible reopening of universities that the National Universities Commission, (NUC) is working on in the aftermath of a July 9th, 2020 meeting of the Minister for Education with Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian universities.
“We have to take this decision because as a major stakeholder in the education sector, we in Veritas University have followed and will continue to follow with keen interest what the Federal Government is doing through the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 to flatten the curve of the pandemic especially as it affects the recent policy reversal on partial reopening of schools and the reactions it has generated”, said the university management in which it is also declaring “total support for whatever decision taken to safeguard the lives of all Nigerians including Teachers and Students”.
It is consequently imploring all and sundry to abide with all protocols and advisories that would stop the spread of the deadly virus.
Although snippets from the university suggests that the technological fix to knowledge transfer would mean that basic academic activities would continue, this shift in date for partial resumption is, nevertheless, the beginning of another waiting game, especially as other universities are most likely to follow the same pattern, with similar announcements in the days ahead.
