“THAT NIGERIAN STUDENTS WILL COME HOME IS NOT A BIG DEAL”- FG SPEAKS ON U.S. DECISION TO DEPORT FOREIGN STUDENTS
As fears mount over U.S. immigration’s decision to deport foreign students whose universities fully switch to online learning because of COVID 19 concerns, Nigeria’s Ministry of Education has responded saying there is little any government can do, as it is not a big deal.
Eons Intelligence reported that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) released a new regulation on July 6, stating that international students attending schools in the country that opts to operate entirely online must either change schools or leave the country.
Globally, universities are beginning to transition to online courses as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The ICE law might send thousands of Nigerians who constitute one-third of African students studying in U.S. universities packing out of the United States.
Responding to this issue, The Director, Press and Public Relations, Ministry of Education, Bem Ben Goong, told the Guardian, “if the report about the U.S. is true, I think there would be very little any government can do about it.”
He added that the ministry is in touch with the U.S. authorities to get the facts on the issue accurately.
“That Nigerian student will come home is not a big deal, the big deal is if they will be able to study successfully and get their results and the certificates they need to get? If the answer is yes, there not much anyone can do about it. We will verify that and put up our appropriate response,” he said.
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ASUU MAY GO EXTANT IF THE US POLICY WORKS
During the interview with the Guardian, the Ministry of Education’s PRO also took a swipe at ASUU. In his words:
“ASUU needs to understand that they have competitors and their competitor is the evolving technologies that can knock them off. If ASUU continues to be archaic in their thinking, orientation and actions, their days may be numbered.”
Ben Goong added that ASUU might go extant if the U.S. policy falls through.
“If the policy is true, it means that the world is changing and ASUU may go extant. In the U.S., I know for a fact that 80 percent of the lecturers are part-time lecturers. If the Nigerian government decides to tell ASUU that it cannot bear their bill anymore and that it was going to put them on part-time and they can only be teaching based on their workload, these are some of the things that ASUU needs to consider,” he said.
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