Parents and students in Nigeria have voiced strong opposition to the recent fee increases at several schools around the country, especially those at the government universities.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the union representing university faculty, has also voiced its concerns, predicting that a large number of students will withdraw from school within the next two years if the trend is not reversed and adequately addressed.
The ASUU president, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, who issued the warning, warned that if the current trend continued, between 40 and 50 percent of university students will drop out over the next two years.
The university don bemoaned that the people’s standard of living is at its lowest ebb due to the high cost of living as a result of the continued downward slope of the naira against the dollar and other foreign currencies, and that the university authorities are only adding to the pain and misery of the people by not finding a way to improve their living condition.
Tuition costs are being raised by universities at will, he claimed. Is that reasonable considering the high cost of living (including rent and transportation) and the low minimum wage (N30,000)? And you’re making the pupils do it?
“As a result, I can promise you that in the next two or three years, more than 40 to 50 percent of the pupils who are in school will drop out if nothing is done about this high fee being introduced all over the country today.
Asking hypothetically, “If you say school fees of N300,000, how can the children of somebody who earns N50,000 a month be able to pay such fee?”
He criticized the government’s stance on education spending while also urging it to increase funding from the current 3.8% of GDP to 15% of GDP by 2022 if it is serious about improving education in Nigeria.
In addition to helping the country’s economy grow and develop, he argued, this would be a boon to families by relieving the financial burden of sending their children to private school.
The current economic realities in the country have resulted in tuition increases at many public universities in recent months.
At least three federal colleges have recently announced tuition increases, prompting students to stage nonviolent demonstrations.
On September 12, students at the University of Jos in the Nigerian state of Plateau demonstrated against what they saw as an excessive rise in tuition. Students in the Tin City State took to the streets with signs protesting a proposed tuition hike of 300 percent.
An increase from N27,000 to N45,000 was negotiated between the university administration and the students’ parents and implemented in 2017, as reported by the students. They were dismayed to learn that the university officials had woken up for the current session and announced a 300 percent hike, costing freshmen and sophomores N213,000 and juniors and seniors N160,000.
You may recall that prior protests had shaken the University of Nigeria Nsukka and the University of Lagos when administrations at those institutions announced arbitrary increases in tuition.
Reports indicate that the UNN recently hiked tuition for freshmen and sophomores by one hundred percent for the upcoming 2021/2022 school year, despite student protests on December 1, 2022. Fees for returning students increased from N45,000 to between N85,000 and N95,000 with the most recent increase.
Following the student protests, it was reported that the fees for returning students were reduced by N10,000, bringing them to between N74,000 and N75,000, while the fees for incoming students remained unchanged at between N114,650 and N120,650. According to the most recent increase, the estimated cost for a returning student at this institution is $90,750 (however this varies widely by major and faculty).
Prof. Osodeke worries that parents and guardians may have difficulty paying the new fees even with the drop in school costs that can be witnessed in UNILAG as a result of student demonstrations.
However, many people think that the recent withdrawal of education subsidies and the introduction of student loans has something to do with the recent increases in tuition at various universities.
Proponents of this view point to the June 12, 2023 signing of the Students’ Loan Act by President Tinubu as evidence that federal colleges’ enrollments have been steadily rising for some time. Students are required to pay back the loan within two years of finishing the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) program.
However, the head of ASUU does not think students’ loan would make a difference. He was worried that the loan plan might fall through. He emphasized the importance of reviewing the lending policy if the plan was to be successful.
Prof. Osodeke’s skepticism of the student loan plan is shared by many students, who have insisted that the high unemployment rate in the country renders the loan useless.
Tertiary institutions, however, have been unmoved and unyielding in their efforts to raise tuition rates. They do this with the confident expectation that all borrowers will complete their degrees. However, students report that it is difficult to gain access to these loans, even if they could afford to repay them after graduation.
James Okunade, a student in the English and Literary Studies Department at Lagos State University, Ojo, complained that the requirements for the loan’s approval were too stringent.
“It’s a very strict procedure. If you get the loan but are unable to finish your coursework in the allotted period, it will be difficult to get employment.
Again, if you need loans to get through college, you can finish up with a debt certificate in addition to a diploma. Many students then take out additional loans to cover the whole cost of their school, so by the time they graduate they have accumulated both degrees and debts.
So, it’s important for policymakers and educators to acknowledge that these methods aren’t working. Nigeria is not at that point just yet. The tuition at Unilag has been lowered, so I’ve heard. Other organizations should take note and do the same. He argued that the government should put an emphasis on education if it is serious about helping the country develop.
Unilag student Mary Ayodele, a sophomore majoring in mass communication, criticized the situation by recounting her difficulties in securing funding for the upcoming 2020–2021 school year.
She went on to say that it severely impacted her grades because she was unable to focus on the exams she took for the courses for which she had not registered.
She wasn’t sure if she could afford the tuition at the moment.
The original cost of attending the school was estimated to be N74,000. However, the current cost is N90,750. That’s a tall order. I haven’t broken the news to my father yet, but I know the sum we’re expected to pay right now is not small. She warned, “He might get angry and stop funding my education.”
DAILY POST checks show that many students are in Miss Ayodele’s position.
The students at UNILAG were protesting the increase in tuition as well as what they saw as the indiscriminate arrests made by police.
The students who were demonstrating were reportedly met with volleys of tear gas on September 6. On September 13, they held further demonstrations. The school eventually provided an explanation for the cost increase and reiterated that the fees had already been lowered as part of a collective bargaining agreement with the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS).
Unilag’s Mass Communication Students’ Association (MACSA) President Samson Soremekun commented on the situation, saying, “The reason for the protests is obvious.” Students from middle-class families are able to afford tuition at federal colleges, thus they attract a large number of them.
Most families simply can’t afford the costs now. Students therefore anticipate that holding peaceful demonstrations will bring attention to their cause.
However, universities such as UNIJOS, UNILAG, UNN, and others, including private colleges, justify the hikes in tuition by citing limited budgetary allocations and economic challenges.
Some federal institutions’ unexpected fee increases have had far-reaching negative consequences for students, their families, and even the larger community.
The results can be devastating: from emotional anguish to a lack of concentration in the classroom to a rise in student dropout rates to dashed hopes and even suicide. It could cause anxiety, hypertension, and even death in the parents.
The president of the MCSA at Unilag claims that a 2022 UNESCO research found that 20 million Nigerians were not in school due to financial difficulties.
The assumption that today’s students are tomorrow’s leaders is in jeopardy if tuition increases cause more students to drop out. “Education is a critical investment for the average person, and failure to do so could lead to societal problems,” he said.
A UNN engineering student in his 300s voiced concern that the cost increase will cause many students to drop out and regretted the government’s lack of interest in sponsoring federal schools.
While he appreciated that the UNN administration had made it possible to pay tuition in installments, he said that the current sum was frustrating, especially for self-sponsoring students.
While acknowledging that the university is not immune to the sour economy, UNN’s Director of Academics for the Department of Combined Social Sciences, Chijioke Ogenyi, asked the school administration to be attentive because without the students, there won’t be any teachers.
He posed the question, “How can students who cannot afford the fees have access to quality education?” Teachers can’t do their jobs without their pupils, and students can’t learn without teachers.
Our educational institutions should treat their students with respect since they cannot function without them. You’re expected to pay N100,000 in tuition and fees for the upcoming semester, up from the current N25,000. Individuals who choose to drop out of school may turn to criminal activity in order to support themselves, adding to the social problems that already exist.
Those who choose to forego further education are obviously dreaming in vain. Since they are unable to pursue certification-required careers like law or medicine due to exorbitant school costs, they are overwhelmed with regret and anger. He said, “The dreams of a better life for their parents are dashed when they are unable to provide for their children by investing in their education.”
Ogenyi replied, “One of the implications of high school fees is a corresponding high dropout rate,” when asked about the consequences of the recent increase in tuition.
For example, “the trending issue among young people is cyber-crime such as internet fraud, commonly referred to as the yahoo yahoo,” which harms Nigeria’s reputation abroad. If the recent increases in tuition fees at these federal colleges aren’t effectively addressed, the prevalence of other social ills like prostitution, child trafficking, armed robbery, kidnapping, and banditry will only rise.
Students’ minds will be diverted from criminal activity if they are kept occupied in the classroom. If a country is serious about its future, it must make educating its children a top priority.
To achieve its goal of being a global leader in science and technology, Nigeria must improve the quality of its educational system. Education is the key to enhancing our healthcare system. Education has the potential to improve people’s lives in many ways.
Therefore, the government of Nigeria, led by President Bola Tinubu, should be compassionate and examine the ongoing fee hikes at the country’s federal universities critically.
Another Lagos resident, Mr. Christian Uduak, who has two children enrolled at the UNN, has also spoken out against the new policy, saying, “We, parents, are likely to suffer from hypertension or depression when we see our children unable to achieve their dreams due to our inability to afford their school fees.”
The percentage increases are frequently shockingly large, and we are never given any advance warning. Many of us were unable to pursue higher education owing to financial constraints, and it is a constant focus of our prayers that our children will have better opportunities than we did.
“When our children fail, we feel like failures ourselves, and that can cause us to overanalyze the situation.”
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