The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has rejected a proposal by the Nigerian Federal Government to increase tuition in public Universities across the country.
The proposal was suggested by Dr Wale Babalakin, the chief government negotiator in the ongoing ASUU/Federal Government renegotiation exercise and was vehemently rejected by representatives of the union.
The news was revealed through a statement issued by ASUU through the Coordinator of the Bauchi zone of the union Prof. Lawan Abubakar, during a press conference in Jos, the Plateau State capital.
According to ASUU;
“One of the major issues our union wishes to bring to public domain is the wild idea of sharing the cost of education between the government and parents proposed by Dr. Wale Babalakin. This idea of sharing the cost of education since government alone cannot fund education, and that parents need to pay for it too.
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He proposed a minimum of N350, 000 as tuition fee for undergraduate students of Arts and Humanities, and N500, 000, for those in Sciences.
Our union rejected the proposal based on the fact that the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria clearly states that funding education is the sole responsibility of Governments at various levels and not parents.”
ASUU further alleged that Dr. Babalakin further suggested the establishment of an Education Bank where students will obtain a loan of N1 million each, every session to pay the tuition fee and sustain themselves.
“However, our union also rejected the idea of Education Bank, because for one, not all the students will have access to loan, and for those who will access the loan, it is the same parents who served as sureties, and subsequently pay back the loan, considering the very high rate of unemployment in the country.”
The Union further said the idea was not bankable because it would stifle the development of the Nigerian youth as a student will still have to pay back a loan of 4 to 6 million naira upon graduation and so cannot start a life or settle down yet.
ASUU accused Dr. Babalakin of fielding such a proposal in order to ensure funding for private Universities because he owns one himself.
The zonal coordinator of the Union further added that the federal government owed the Universities revitalization fund N1.1 trillion.
He explained that the federal government had in 2013 agreed to disburse the sum of N1.3 trillion for the revitalization of Nigeria universities, between 2013 and 2018, but said out of that amount only N200 billion has been released so far.
“The Bauchi zone of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), hereby reiterates its unflinching support to the National Leadership of the Union towards its untiring efforts and commitment to the implementation of the 2017 Memorandum of Action (MoA), and by extension the 2013 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the 2012 NEEDS Assessment Report, the 2012 Roadmap, the 2011 (MoU), indeed, the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement.” The statement read further.
The union also lamented about the state of funding in public universities across the country
“The 7% of total budget allocated to the education sector in 2018 budget by the federal government of Nigeria is, to say the least, grossly below the UNESCO recommended minimum of 26%.
As if this mirage is not bad enough, State Governments across the country are establishing State Universities and abandoning them to TEFUND, the brain child of ASUU as an intervention agency in the funding of education”,
The Union further debunked reports that N20 billion had been released to it by the Minister of Finance.