No federal university is allowed to charge tuition fees FG insists. The Federal Government has stated that the recent increase in charges by federal universities in the country is regrettable, even though none of the schools are permitted to charge tuition.
Mr. David Adejo, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, stated this at a public hearing on student loans held by the House of Representatives ad committee in Abuja.
They collect fees to pay the costs of housing, ICT, and power, among other things. The Universities’ Governing Councils have the authority to authorise such levies for them.
“The only university that raised tuition after the Student Loans Act was signed was the University of Lagos.”
“They came to the Ministry with a proposal to raise their fees because all Governing Councils had been dissolved, and we approved it.”
“Immediately after that was done, there was a resolution from the House stopping any increase in fees, and the President also gave a directive stopping any increase in fees, and that is where it is, even though several others have brought their proposals,” he explained.
According to Adejo, the fees collected by the institutions were used to pay for some of their services, such as power costs.
He faulted claims that the signing of the Students’ loan act was responsible for some of the hike in the university charges.
Adejo said that despite the charges, the universities had not been able to meet some of their expenses.
He said that modalities had been put in place for the take-off of the student loans scheme in the 2023–2024 academic calendar.
Adejo said that President Bola Tinubu had given the directive that all necessary works must be completed on the modalities for the take off of the scheme to enable its take off in September.
The chairman of the committee, Rep. Teseer Ugbor, stated that the student loan was one of the federal government’s palliatives for alleviating Nigerians’ suffering and ensuring interested Nigerians’ access to higher education.
He was concerned, however, about the distribution procedure, the recovery of cash from recipients, and the prospect that some students might be unable to obtain the loan.
He called for debate as part of the process of amending the law to guarantee that all Nigerian students interested in the loan received it. (NAN)