Reps seek suspension of fee increases in public tertiary schools

The House of Representatives has urged the federal government to secure a suspension of school fee increases at public tertiary institutions and raise funding for the schools.

Lawmakers adopted a motion by Ifeoluwa Ehindero, who represents Akoko North East and Akoko North West in Ondo State, during Tuesday’s plenary.

Ehindero said increases in tuition and other compulsory charges could put higher education beyond poorer families and undermine the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND). He said some institutions had raised charges by more than 100 per cent.

The House asked the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Universities Commission (NUC) to engage institutions on suspending the increases and reviewing their fee structures.

Ehindero said the loan programme had been designed around existing fee levels and institutional costs. He warned that sudden increases could distort loan allocations and force students to drop out.

Lawmakers also called for higher government subventions so public universities, polytechnics and colleges of education would depend less on student charges.

The House assigned its committees covering university education, federal polytechnics and higher technical education, and federal colleges of education to investigate the scale and justification of the increases.

Sources: Punch; Premium Times