Strikes in Nigeria

歌曲 Strikes in Nigeria
歌手 英语听力
专辑 VOA慢速英语:教育报道

歌词

[00:00.10] From VOA Learning English,
[00:01.22] this is the Education Report.
[00:03.38] Public universities in Nigeria have reopened
[00:08.67] after a nearly six-month long strike by teachers.
[00:12.58] In the city of Bauchi,
[00:15.39] teachers are now back in classrooms
[00:17.72] at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University.
[00:22.12] History lecturer Maimuna Sadiq attempts
[00:28.43] to begin where she stopped teaching in June.
[00:31.19] "We had treated three topics.
[00:33.66] You can't remember?
[00:37.85] So you mean you were not reading?" said Balewa.
[00:40.66] Students at public universities across Nigeria
[00:44.94] tell VOA they feel both happy and worry to be back.
[00:50.07] "I am excited, apprehensive.
[00:52.38] You know, exams is next month.
[00:54.18] My project work is not completed.
[00:56.12] I have a lot to do," one student stated.
[00:57.56] "We have to rush the semester to end it early,
[01:00.45] in order to make up the time
[01:03.32] that we spent on the strike," another student added.
[01:04.78] Teachers tell VOA it is the students
[01:07.86] who lose because of the strike.
[01:10.20] Repeated strikes can add months, even years,
[01:14.74] to the time it takes to finish a study program.
[01:18.16] A labor group,
[01:20.02] the Academic Staff Union of Universities
[01:23.92] suspended the strike in December.
[01:26.47] Part of the deal that ended the strike
[01:29.85] was a government promise to invest billions of dollars
[01:34.49] each year in university buildings and equipment.
[01:38.57] The money is to be spent during the next five years.
[01:43.25] The government said that soon
[01:46.38] 25 percent of the nation's budget
[01:49.88] will be spent on education.
[01:52.27] The teachers and the government also agree
[01:56.25] to change it in working conditions
[01:58.88] and special allowances for those
[02:01.76] in administrative positions.
[02:03.86] But some teachers say,
[02:06.60] the strike was really about pushing the government
[02:10.28] to make Nigeria's universities better.
[02:13.47] Laz Emetike is with Delta State University.
[02:18.50] "It's for the benefit of all,
[02:20.41] not a benefit of lecturers only."
[02:23.11] He says improvements in the universities,
[02:26.82] such as better science laboratories,
[02:30.12] what let Nigeria compete with other parts of the world.
[02:34.17] Countries throughout Africa, not just Nigeria,
[02:38.56] are considering how to answer the exploding demand
[02:43.15] for admission to universities.
[02:45.79] These countries must also improve academic values
[02:50.22] and requirements and find ways
[02:52.95] to pay teachers enough to keep them.
[02:56.21] Experts tell VOA
[02:59.02] that Nigeria can not ignore this.
[03:01.83] Hundreds of thousands of young students
[03:05.68] pass college entrance exams each year
[03:09.03] but many can not attend public universities
[03:12.89] because there are not enough classrooms or teachers.
[03:16.89] Nigeria's population is expected to increase
[03:22.32] by 100 percent by the middle of this century.
[03:26.30] University lecturers say
[03:29.63] they will be watching to make sure
[03:31.91] their schools get and effectively use the money
[03:36.62] the government has promised.
[03:38.44] But for now,
[03:41.55] Nigerian Universities are filled with students
[03:45.47] and that is a good thing.
[03:47.87] And that's the Education Report for VOA Learning English.
[03:54.54] I'm Bob Doughty.