By Shaibatu Saifullahi, Kano
Various higher education institutions, especially public universities, have hiked their school fees by significant percentages, ranging from 100 percent to 400 percent per session in the 2023 academic year.
Bayero University Kano is no exception to this school fee increment.
It had put a lot of the students at the university in a predicament. While it does, some are planning to defer their studies, while others are likely to drop out of the university, due to the financial hardship the nation is experiencing as a result of fuel subsidies and other policies put in place by the Nigerian federal government, they were unable to pay for the school fees.
Bayero University Kano has been one of the cheapest Federal Universities in Nigeria; however, in a recent circular dated May 24, 2023, the management of the university announced that it has increased its school fees by more than 200 percent.
The new charges are to take effect from the 2022–2023 academic session, and new students are expected to pay N10,000 as an acceptance fee before they can be screened.
Why we increase our fees – BUK Management
Lamara Garba, who serves as Deputy Registrar and Head of the Public Affairs Directorate of Bayero University Kano, sheds light on why the university decided to increase its school fees.
Garba cited the prevailing situation in the country coupled with the current economic challenges.
“I think based on the prevailing situation in the country, you are aware that the price of everything has gone up, starting from the removal of the fuel subsidy We were buying fuel at 200 Naira per litre in the last two months, now it’s 615 or 620 Naira per litre, so everything has gone up so therefore for the university to maintain the standards, it has to increase the registration fees.”
Breakdown of BUK’s Registration Fees
A breakdown of the new charges for some faculties shows that returning students of Arts, Islamic Studies, Law, Social Sciences, and Management Sciences are to pay N95,000, while the new students will pay N105,000.
Returning students in the Departments of Banking and Finance, and Accounting are to pay N97,000, and the new students will pay N107,000.
In the faculties of Computing, Communication, Earth and Environmental Sciences, and Education, new students will pay N110,000, and returning students are to cough out N100,000. And old students in the faculties of Life Sciences, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Physical Sciences will pay N102,000, while new students pay N112,000.
It is N101,000 for old students in the faculties of Agricultural Engineering and Quantity Surveying and N111,000 for new students.
A further breakdown shows that new students of Geology, Urban and Regional Planning, and Architecture are to pay N115,000, while old students are to pay N110,000. For Veterinary medicine, new students will pay N120,000 and returning students N110,000.
BUK students react
A student from the School of Continuing Education, Kwanar Taya, said he was not surprised by the hike because there were rumours here and there that the university management was going to increase its school fees.
“I only shook my head ’cause it wasn’t a surprise; we were always kind of expecting. The way the school handled the matter, letting rumours spread for a long, with some students in official positions building a name out of the crisis, was what was annoying. The school later debunked the rumour, only to go around and do exactly what they said they wouldn’t.”
A Level 5 student, Fatima Lawal of the Department of Food Science and Technology, said, “I was surprised and bothered.”
Similarly, Suleiman Aminat, a Level 200 student in the Department of Anatomy, said, “I was shocked and angry when the story reached me.”
Request for discounts for Spillover students
Spillover students from various programmes across the university campuses requested that the university management consider them in the registration fees because they are not going to stay at the university for the whole academic session.
They noted that some of them have only 1, 2, or 3 credit units to graduate in the first or second semester; therefore, they should pay the school fees based on the courses they are to take.
“I’m taking only one course throughout this session, so it’s unfair to say we must pay school fees for the whole session,” said Muhammad, a spillover from the Department of Education.
While responding, Deputy Registrar and Head of the Public Affairs Directorate of the University, Lamara Garba, said:
“So far, based on the recent press release by the university management, there is no issue with discounts, whether you are a fresh student or a spillover student or whatever; it’s the same price per session, because you have to wait until the end of the session; you are going to enter class to attend the lectures; you are going to have the same hostel facilities; you are going to have electricity during lectures; you are going to be given papers, question papers, and answer sheets, all so there is nothing like a discount.”
Kano State Government frowns at BUK’s increase of student registration fees
The Kano State Government has frowned at the sudden increase in students’ registration fees by the BUK management.
This is contained in a statement issued by the Chief Information Officer, Kano State Ministry for Higher Education, Sunusi Na’Isa.
Na’Isa quoted the state Commissioner for Higher Education, Dr. Yusuf Kofarmata, as describing the development as alarming during a courtesy visit to the university’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Sagir Abbas, in his office.
According to the statement, the Commissioner explained that the aim of his visit was to strengthen the cordial relationship between the government and BUK and also to discuss the sudden increase in registration fees.
”We are here to collaborate with the management of Bayero University, Kano, to look into possible measures to ameliorate the situation as the majority of students cannot afford to pay.
“Governor Abba Yusuf directed me to intimate you, discuss, and find a lasting solution to it for the progress and development of education in the state,” the commissioner was quoted as saying.
Kofarmata explained that the government had already put arrangements in place to sponsor 101 Kano indigenes to pursue post-graduate degrees at both local and foreign universities. He said that the state government would also give scholarships exclusively to married women to enable them to undergo postgraduate programmes.
The Commissioner added that to complement the efforts of the present administration in the education sector, BUK had a lot to offer to help achieve the government’s set objectives.
He appealed to the vice chancellor to look into the possibility of reducing the registration fees for the sake of indigent students.
