The Kaduna state government has announced an increase of
tuition fees in all its tertiary institutions to enable them to deliver quality
skills and training required to tackle 21st-century challenges.
The institutions include Kaduna State University (KASU);
Nuhu Bamali Polytechnic, Zaria; Kaduna State College of Education (COE), Gidan
Waya; Shehu Idris College of Health Sciences, Makarfi; and Kaduna State College
of Nursing and Midwifery.
According to NAN, Shehu Makarfi, the state commissioner for
education, broke the news in Kaduna on Monday.
Makarfi explained that the government had pegged a minimum
fee to be charged in the institutions.
The commissioner also said the state government, however,
directed managements of the institutions to determine what students in
humanities, sciences, residents, and non-residents could pay.
He said KASU had been directed to increase the tuition fees
from between N24,000 and N26,000 to a minimum consolidated fee of N150,000.
He added that the minimum fees for national diploma (ND) and
higher national diploma (HND) programmes had been pegged at a minimum of
N75,000 and N100,000 respectively.
The commissioner also said that the national certificate in
education (NCE) programmes in COE Gidan Waya was equally increased to N75,000.
He said that the tuition fees were reviewed upward in line
with current realities and for the institutions to be able to improve
performance in Information Technology (IT) and research to meet global demand.
“We want our tertiary institutions to offer courses like IT,
cyber security, artificial intelligence, satellite technology and other skills
that are in high demand globally,” he said.
“Government is ready to invest resources in tertiary
institutions as long as they are ready to go along with the dynamics in society
and the world at large.”
Makarfi added that the Nigerian constitution, the national
and the Kaduna state education policies, have provided for free and compulsory
basic education.
The commissioner said the state government is currently
providing free education from pre-primary to senior secondary schools, but
noted that tertiary education has to be paid for because there is nowhere in
the world that it is free.
“In 2005, KASU management proposed over N60,000 as tuition
fee, but the government at that time said indigenes should pay between N24,000
and N26,000, while the government augments the balance annually,” he added.
“The government was only able to pay the balance for the
first two years and had to stop, leaving the university in a deep financial
crunch.”
He pointed out that KASU management was finding it difficult
to run the school due to inadequate funds.
He stressed that the N26,000 tuition fee in the 21st century
was grossly inadequate to generate the needed funds to run the school, improve
facilities and capacity to accommodate more students and deliver the best of
training and research.
The commissioner further noted that KASU could not
accommodate the quantum of students that applied for various programmes in the
institution due to issues of carrying capacity.
He said that most of the applicants were being forced to go
to alternative institutions, particularly private universities, where they pay
a minimum of N750,000 as tuition fee.
“So, why don’t we create an enabling environment, increase
the carrying capacity of KASU for our children to remain at home, learn at home
and pay less?” he said.
“I want to tell our parents and other stakeholders that
despite the increased tuition fees, we are still subsiding compared to what
other universities are collecting. Students in our tertiary institutions pay
the least fees in this part of the country.
“What we want from the general public is their understanding
and cooperation for us to improve the quality of education at tertiary
institutions.”
He said that for indigent students to pay the new fees
without difficulty, the government had introduced needs-based scholarship, and
increased the amount from less than N20,000 to more than N100,000.
He added that the state government equally introduced
merit-based foreign scholarships for exceptionally brilliant students.
“Also, a loan scheme is also introduced for those who may
not meet the needs-based criteria for scholarship to access and pay back in a
future date without interest,” he added.
“Government will continue to play its role of employing more
lecturers, improving the infrastructure, and fund research and other services.”
The development comes after KASU dismissed claims in some
quarters that it raised the tuition fee for non-indigenes to N500,000.
It had also explained that the new tuition fee for the
institution is still being deliberated on.
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