Parents, Students Cry Out As Varsities Hike Fees In Nigeria

Parents and students of some universities across the country have cried out over the hike in school fees, saying the development could worsen their current economic pains and lead to mass students’ withdrawals, Daily Trust reports. 

Many universities, both federal and state-owned, have issued releases on upward adjustments of registration fees for courses being offered with some of the increment spiking as high as 300%. 

The development coupled with the harsh economic realities exacerbated by the recent removal of fuel subsidy and the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) devaluation of naira, has compounded the woes for ordinary Nigerians in the pursuit of university education, parents and students said. 

While the Students’ Loan Scheme provided for by the recently signed Students’ Loan Bill was seen as a trigger for this upward review of registration fees, educationists and other stakeholders have said the lack of clarity on how the scheme would benefit Nigerians has further complicated the process with wider implications. 

Some parents who spoke to Daily Trust said they were already overburdened by the cost of feeding, transportation, energy, among others.  Specifically, civil servants said their take home pay, which barely lasts a week, would not in any way cover the cost of funding the higher education of their children even if they dedicated everything. 

Some students who sponsor themselves in schools by engaging in SMEs or menial jobs said from what they have seen so far in respect to students’ loan scheme, it would be extremely difficult for some of them to access the facility. 

They, therefore, called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to first provide mitigating factors, revamp the economy before removing subsidy in the education sector to avert mass drop out by those who could not pay the fees prescribed by the schools they attend. 

-Dailytrust