NUC to meet vice-chancellors over fee hike

The Executive Secretary of the National University Commission, Prof. Abubakar Rasheed, says he will meet with vice-chancellors of universities to discuss a hike in school fees in some tertiary institutions. 

Rasheed stated this in Abuja Tuesday at a meeting with Senate President Ahmad Lawan and heads of regulatory agencies in the education sector. 

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Lawan noted that he convened the meeting as a follow-up to his earlier engagement with the Coalition of Northern Groups, Students’ Wing which complained of a plan by some tertiary institutions to hike registration fees.

Responding, Rasheed said the NUC would consult all the universities with a template to complete and tell exactly what charges they have.

“We shall advertise. If we are misled, we shall be able to get to know. We understand that the universities cannot be forced to charge uniform fees across the country because they have different demands and they come from different situations.

“Possibly a university in Lagos or Port Harcourt may charge slightly more than universities in some rural areas. But there should be a baseline.

“One university cannot charge N20,000; while others charge N150,000 to Nigerian students where tuition has been free since 1978 at the undergraduate level,” he said.