Some Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), said on Friday that the hike in tuition fees in Kaduna State would make university education inaccessible to children of the poor and less privileged.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the state government had unveiled about 500 per cent increment in tuition fees to be paid by students of Kaduna State University (KASU).
Mrs Hadiza Umar, Executive Director, Hope for Communities and Children Initiative (H4CC) told NAN that the increment would widen the gap between the rich and the poor.
Umar further said that the increment would take access to tertiary education beyond the reach of less privileged children.
She expressed concern that this was coming at a time when promoting girls’ education was at the front burner of global discourse, especially in developing countries.
According to her, this singular act has not showcased the government’s responsiveness towards promoting inclusive education.
“It is currently predicted that more girls will drop out of school following the global recession due to the impact of COVID-19.
“This is disheartening to any educationist and we urge the Kaduna state government to reconsider and rescind its decision.”
She advised the state government to increase salaries of civil servants to enable them to support their children to further their education especially the girl child and children with special needs.
Also, the Executive Director, African Centre for Education Development (CLEDA Africa), Mr Daniels Akpan described the development as “very disturbing”.
Akpan said that the over 500 per cent increment in a state where 43.5 per cent of the population were living below the poverty line would have negative implications for human capital development.
He noted that although the state government had budgeted N4.7 billion in 2020 for local and foreign scholarship, an increase of tuition fee by over 500 per cent contradicts ongoing efforts to make quality education accessible to all, especially the marginalised and vulnerable people.
According to him, the decision was untimely and unacceptable, in view of the current increase in insecurity in the state and the impact of COVID-19 on businesses.
“If the fees hike is not reviewed downward, it might force many students to drop out of school and increase social vices, as students might be compelled to survive by all means.
“I, Therefore, urge the state government to revert to the old fee to enable students from poor and marginalised families to access university education and break the chain of poverty.”
NAN recalls that students of KASU had rejected the increase during a meeting with the school management on Thursday.
Mr Abdulrazak Shuaibu, a medical student who spoke on behalf of the students, said that the tuition fees were increased from N26,000 to N150,000 for students in Faculty of Arts, Management, and Social Sciences.
Shuaibu, a former President of Kaduna State Students Union, added that students of Faculty of Medicine from the state will now pay N300,000 as against N24,000 while non-indigenes will pay N500,000.
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academic, Prof. Abdullahi Ashafa, had told the students during the meeting that the tuition fee was increased by the State Executive Council to enable the school to generate funds to deliver on its mandate.
Ashafa explained that the university required huge funding to efficiently provide the needed quality education and skills that would make the students useful to themselves and the society.
He appealed to the students to be law-abiding and not to take the law into their hands in their quest to seek reversal of the fee increase. (NAN)
