Education
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Students of the Lagos State University want the state government to come out plainly to say what the percentages of reduction in tuition fees amount to in Naira and Kobo
| By Anayo Ezugwu | Jun. 23, 2014 @ 01:00 GMT
THE Lagos state government has announced a reduction in the tuition fees payable at Lagos State University, LASU. This followed several months of protests by students for a downward review of the fees. The government said it would reduce the fees in the range of 34 to 60 percent across the different faculties and courses. The state government, however, left the implementation of the final decision in the reduction regarding every department to the Governing Council of the university.
In the resolution read by Fatai Olukoga, special adviser to the governor on education, the state government, stated that it had accepted the recommendation of the ad hoc committee set up by the state government that fees and charges payable by students for incidental services and materials were amenable to a downward review for two main reasons.
“Some of the components have applied to students across all levels when, in fact, they can be justifiably limited to students at a particular level only; some of the charges included can still be reduced on compassionate grounds. On the basis of these principles, government agrees that with the subsidised tuition fees and appropriate moderation of the incidental fees, a reduction, ranging from 34 to 60 percent is possible across the different faculties and courses”, the government said.
The government said it had approved the reduction in accordance with the law setting up the university, saying that it had forwarded its approval to the governing council for consideration and implementation. “Pursuant to its statutory mandate, the University Governing Council will issue details of what is now payable by students in each department and deal with all other management matters of the university,” and advised all individuals and groups within the community to relate to the university council accordingly.
It observed that notwithstanding the reduction, government would continue with scholarships and bursary provisions for students. On the retirement age for lecturers, “the council is of the view that the decision cannot be unilaterally extended by employees themselves unless the employers cede total control of the institution to employees, which is not possible in this instance.
“Regarding the Vice Chancellor’s tenure of office, government also considers it a state prerogative exercisable by Law pursuant to concurrent legislative power of the state government to establish the university and make statutory provisions for its management, and not that of its employees or proprietors of other universities. Government will retain the option of a second term for a Vice Chancellor in order to benefit from good leadership whenever the occasion arises.”
Meanwhile, the students have rejected the reduction by the government. Nurudeen Yusuf, president, Students Union Government, SUG, said they would not accept the reduction by government unless the value of the reduction was explained in terms of Naira and Kobo. “We had our meeting immediately after we got the news and decided that we will not accept this reduction. It is a ridiculous one as far as we are concerned. This is our position. When the Lagos State Government increased the fees in 2011, it was not announced through the Governing Council. It was the Government that announced it. But now, the Governor is sending the Governing Council to us, he is supposed to make such an announcement by himself. Another issue is this: why are we being given this information in terms of percentages? How can a market woman whose child is in LASU calculate 34 – 60 percent? Even then, it is not a fair position at all. We want it to be reduced to, at most, N65, 500 for fresh students and N46, 500 for returning students.
“We are not yet happy about the latest development because the government is yet to tell us the exact amount it has reduced the fees to in Naira and Kobo. It should come out in clear terms to tell us directly the exact amount we are going to be paying, not saying the Governing Council will determine the amount each faculty will be paying. When the fees were hiked in 2011, it was government which directly told us in naira and kobo what each faculty will pay, and not in percentages. This is our stand which will be made known in a press conference tomorrow,” he said.
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