ASUU 3 things you should know about the Prposed school fee for Federal Universities
By now, every Nigerian undergraduate especially those in Federal Government owned universities should have gotten the memo that the government is planning to increase tuition fee to N350,000.
The Federal Government alleged plan to hike tuition fees payable in public Universities has attracted condemnation.
Most people claim the proposed tuition plans is Outrageous. But is that really so?
5 days ago, ILORIN.NFO news release of The Director, Media and Publicity, Abubakar Bukola Saraki Mandate Constituency Office, Alhaji Abdullahi Oganija, describing the plan as ill-conceived and an attempt to deprive potential students from humble background right to quality education as constitutionally guaranteed.
He said no responsible government would think of denying its citizens standard education let alone astronomically increase tuition fees.
the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) members across the country have been reacting to the new proposed tuition increase asking Nigerians to reject the plan.
However, in case you haven't heard the whole story, here are three things you should know about the tuition fee the Federal Government is reportedly planning to introduce.
1. What led to the controversial tuition
In 2017, the Academic Staff Union of Universities went on a nationwide strike for over a month. As usual, there was a talk between the union and the government and the strike was called off. But that didn't happen without some agreements between them.
ASUU's delegation meet FG's delegation on industrial strike
(Azeezat Adedigba/Premium Times)
(Azeezat Adedigba/Premium Times)
According to Prof. Lawan Abubakar, the Bauchi Zonal Coordinator of ASUU, the union and the government agreed on the revitalisation of the universities and the payment of arrears of Earned Academic Allowances (EAA).
They also agreed that the EAA be captured in 2018 universities budgets.
And lastly, the Federal Government and ASUU agreed on the need for adequate budgetary allocation to education in line with the UNESCO minimum standard of 26 per cent.
However, none of these have been met, instead, the government set up a negotiation team led by Dr Wale Babalakin to dialogue with the union.
2. Who is Wale Babalakin?
Dr. Wale Babalakin, is the Chairman of Bi-Courtney Group of Companies.
Dr Wale Babalakin is a Nigerian businessman, lawyer and philanthropist. He is the Pro-Chancellor, University of Lagos (UNILAG). Babalakin is the Chairman of the Bi-Courtney Group of companies and he is an alumnus of UNILAG and the University of Cambridge.
Babalakin is very familiar with the Nigerian education system.
He understands the challenges facing Nigerian Universities and he is one of the best analysts of the system. This no doubt explains why the FG considered him to lead the negotiating team on ASUU-FG agreements.
As a businessman, Babalakin has a capitalist view about funding education in Nigeria. He believes the government needs to create an enabling environment for private investors to provide the required infrastructure for tertiary institutions.
He once said: “There have been serious plans for education to be free at all levels. My position is that if there’s a choice between free education and good education at all levels, I choose the latter''.
Everyone knows good education costs a lot of money. And for Nigerian students to enjoy it, their parents have to pay because according to him, it costs $3000 to train one undergraduate properly in Nigeria.
3. Education Bank
In a country where the minimum wage is N18,000, paying N350,000 for tuition in Federal Universities will be difficult for most parents. The government is aware of this and that is why Education Bank is part of the package of the proposed school fee.
The Education Bank will provide indigent students with scholarship loans throughout their academic programs in the Universities. Hope that sounds interesting?
The Education Bank will provide indigent students with scholarship loans throughout their academic programs in the Universities. Hope that sounds interesting?
Anyway, that's just some fact we've been able to gather as regard to the current trending propose demand to hike students tuition fee to #350,000
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