Registrar of The Polytechnic, Ibadan (TPI), Mrs. Modupe Theresa Fawale has admonished all Tertiary Institutions in the country to put in place a Conflict Resolution Committee that would be responsible for peace building and consultation in the institutions.
Mrs. Fawale gave the admonition in a paper she presented on ‘’Modern strategies for conflict resolutions among staff and students of Tertiary Institutions’’ organised by the Redeemer’s University, Ede, Osun State.
According to her, the committee she suggested should be headed by a tested staff could engage in effective mechanism such as dialogue, mediation and participation among other strategies.
The Registrar of TPI further noted that all staff must establish their credibility by being focussed on their duties, handle assignments with all sense of responsibility, set clear goals, ensure mutual respect and develop rapport with students, listen to their complaints and be dynamic in dealing with them.
“Staff should never threaten students, they are to review and check the perception of these students regularly, even when students put up deviant behaviours. There might be occasions in which staff may need to select and explain their position by giving rationale for their decisions /marks assigned with marking scheme (in case of academic issues) or school’s policies as may be entrenched in student’s information handbook (in case of non- teaching staff),” Mrs Fawale further advised.
She also advised that there would be no communication gap on decisions of management to be implemented in all ramifications adding that information should be clear and not ambiguous and should reach students at the appropriate time.
Mrs Fawale, The Polytechnic, Ibadan Registrar further urged tertiary institutions to always deploy the various ICT platforms such as email, WhatsApp, twitter among others to disseminate information for effectiveness, stressing that there must also be a school portal where information on admission, registration, payment of fees and other related matters should be made available as at when due.
Pointing out that the world has become a global village where Information Technology (IT) could solve some pertinent issues, especially on Student Union elections by having e- election which eliminates rigging and ensures fair play and justice, adding that it could also be used for getting class attendance through clocking-in using biometrics.
She also urged parents, guardians and other stakeholders in the training of youth from childhood in the community not to relent in the training of children to ensure that they possess the right attitude towards issues, respect for virtues, possession of good moral, respect for human beings and having dignity of labour.
Mrs Fawale urged that the discipline of students is a task for all stakeholders, lamenting that some parents, community leaders and other stakeholders have jettisoned this age long belief as “some parents misbehave in their children’s schools and some members of the community near Tertiary Institutions collude with a few badly-behaved ones to deal with staff outside the school premises.
The TPI Registrar who advocated conflict avoidance, negotiation, mediation and arbitration as part of the tools to be employed in managing conflicts among staff and students in Tertiary Institutions however advised that the Institutions must state clearly in the students and staff information handbooks the steps to take for consultation rather than confrontation for expression of grievances.
“These aggrieved staff and students are enjoined and empowered to express grievances verbally or formally after which the officer who received the information must take appropriate step promptly to resolve the conflict’’, Mrs Fawale further admonished.
