FG debunks rumour of tuition fees hike in universities

The Federal Ministry of Education has debunked the news trending on social media that the Federal Government had approved the hike in tuition fees of Nigerian universities to N350, 000.

Mr. Sonny Echono, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry made the clarification at a symposium in Abuja on Wednesday which was part of the activities to commemorate the World Teachers Day to hold on Oct. 5, to celebrate the contributions of teachers to nation building.

Recall that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) had on Tuesday raised alarm over the plan of the Federal Government to increase tuition fees to N350, 000 per session in public universities.

The zonal Chairman of the Union, Dr. Ade Adejumo, who disclosed this while addressing newsmen in Ibadan, said the decision was the position of Federal Government Team, led by Dr Wale Babalakin when the team visited the Union at the University of Ibadan, Oyo State.

But speaking on the theme: “The Right to Education means the Right to a Qualified Teacher,’’ Echono said the federal government did not and has no intention of introducing new tuition fees in our public universities not to mention the figure to N350, 000.

“President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the ministry of education along with the ministry of finance to jointly organise a workshop that will inform on a very sustainable and workable recommendation of funding education in Nigeria.

“And to this end, we have been engaging various stakeholders including ASUU who can come up with a very useful contribution that will bring all these recommendations achievable.”

Echono added that the ministry was working toward re-establishing the education bank to address the role of education funding as the government cannot do it alone.

He said the role of the education bank would be to give loan at a low interest rate, saying this would not be limited to students alone but also parents.

On the right to education, Echono said every child has the fundamental right to quality education, adding that the ministry had developed strategies to ensure pupils and students with special needs were carried along.

Echono said that the National Teachers Institute (NTI) had also concluded plans to train and develop the capacity of primary and secondary school teachers in the 36 states and FCT.

He said that the right to education was sine qua non to national development, saying the Ministerial Strategic Plan (2016 to 2019) had been designed to guarantee expanded access to all levels of education.

Echono said that the plan was geared toward providing adequately the necessary infrastructure and facilities to ensure that the right to the basic level and standards were maintained.

He, therefore, called on teachers to upgrade themselves as effective from January 2020, any teacher who did not present the prerequisite qualifications would be pushed out of the system.