Lecturers in the nation’s universities and polytechnics have warned the Federal Government not to toy with the idea of increasing tuition fees by hiding under the guise that it has set up a Students’ Loan Scheme through which students can source for money to finance their education.
Speaking on the workability of the law, especially given the high unemployment rate in Nigeria, the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, and the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, ASUP, said the foundation for the scheme to fail has been laid already. They opined that when repayment becomes impossible, the fund would simply dry up.
The National President of ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, noted that it is a subtle hike in tuition fees in tertiary institutions, adding that if a student says he cannot afford the fee, he would be asked to go and take the loan.
National President of ASUP, Dr Anderson Ezeibe, said the law does not take cognisance of the economic realities and situation in the country, adding that the foundation for the scheme to fail has been laid.
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