Governor Nasir El-Rufai during the presentation of the first quarter of the Kaduna State Security Situation Report, which held at the Council Chambers of Sir Kashim Ibrahim House.
Secretary to Kaduna State Government, Malam Balarabe Abbas Lawal, has said secondary schools charge as high as N500,000, saying that Kaduna State University, KASU, tuition fees increase will enable the institution to be a top ranking university.
Lawal pointed out that university education in the country is collapsing due to inadequate funding. Lawal stated this when representatives of the students met with senior government officials over the KASU tuition fees increase.
“There are primary schools in Kaduna State that charge N100,000. There are secondary schools that charge as high as N500,000. And you expect university education will cost N27,000? It doesn’t make sense,’’ he said.
The SSG further said that ‘’ for a long time we have been deceiving ourselves. The earlier we wake up and come to the realisation that we need to do something about university education in the state and in the country as a whole, the better.’’
According to him, ‘’The standard of degrees that are churned out in Nigeria is the lowest in the world. We send our children to Ghana, Uganda and Republic of Benin for education. Why? Because our system is collapsing.
Why? Because there is no funding. ‘’
Also, speaking at the meeting, deputy governor of Kaduna State, Dr Hadiza Balarabe, said the increment in tuition fees at the Kaduna State University was painful but necessary because it is the only way that the institution can stay afloat.
Balarabe said: ‘’We understand the pain, we are also pained but sometimes, some decisions are taken for the betterment of the generality of the people.’’
She explained that the fees hike is to enable KASU to be a top ranking university and ‘’we want you to be proud that you went to one of the best schools. We want Kaduna State students to hold their heads high wherever they might be and be proud to represent Kaduna.’’
The deputy governor further said that Kaduna State Government was spending about N5 billion on KASU as the N26, 000 that students were paying was not enough to pay lecturers for three months.
Also speaking, chief of staff, Muhammad Sani Abdullahi, argued that the equipment and libraries that are necessary to enable good education do ‘’ not come freely or cheaply.’’
The chief of staff advised the students’ representatives ‘’ to go back and discuss with your colleagues and get them to see reasons.’’