Nigerian parliament calls for university fee increases to be suspended
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Vanguard
Nigeria’s House of Representatives has called for fee increases at public higher education institutions to be suspended, with some exceeding 100%. It tasked several committees with investigating their scale and justification, saying the increases could undermine access to interest-free student loans from NELFUND.
Nigeria’s House of Representatives has asked the federal government to suspend recent fee increases at public higher education institutions. It has also tasked several of its committees with investigating their scale and justification, reports Nigerian daily Vanguard.
MP Ifeoluwa Ehindero, who introduced the motion, said that some universities, polytechnics and colleges of education had increased tuition fees and other compulsory charges by more than 100%. Lawmakers believe these increases risk undermining the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), which provides interest-free loans to students and whose scheme is based on existing fee levels.
The House warned that uncontrolled increases could disadvantage students from low-income households, lead to students dropping out and fuel tensions on campuses. It called on the government to increase subsidies to public institutions to reduce their reliance on fees paid by students.
Lawmakers also called on the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Universities Commission to discuss with institution heads suspending the increases and reviewing fee schedules. According to the motion, the increases were decided without sufficiently broad consultation or adequate consideration of families’ economic difficulties.
