Students of the Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED), Ijagun, Ogun State, on Monday staged a protest to kick against the increase in tuition fees.
They lamented that the fees payable by students per semester had been hiked from N65,000 to N240,000.
It was gathered that the returning students who were expecting to pay N65,000 will now pay N180,000, while fresh students are to pay N240,000 aside other fees.
On Monday, the students staged a protest as they marched to register their complaints to the management.
“We no go gree, we no go pay”, the students chanted as they marched within the premises of the university.
The Students Union Government, SUG, President, Hammed Akinjetan, in a statement, said it is the duty of the union to advocate for the interest of the student body.
“We firmly believe that this fee increment is unjust and places an unnecessary burden on students,” he said.
He maintained that education is a right, and it should be accessible to all, assuring fellow students that “we are actively working to address this issue”.
The statement, which was also signed by the Public Relations Officer, Olawale Olanrewaju, added that, “We will engage in communication with the university administration to express our concerns and negotiate for a fair and affordable education.
“In the meantime, we encourage each and every one of you to stand together and say No to this fee increment. We must unite as a strong and collective voice to make our concerns heard.”
However, the university has said the increment in tuition is a national phenomenon.
TASUED Registrar, Chief Dapo Oke, spoke in an interview with DAILY POST.
“We had a peaceful students protest. They have brought their grievances to the university management and we have received their grievances. We have asked them to channel their complaints through the appropriate channel, that is through their union leaders. We are going to invite them for necessary consultations.
“In the entire South West, which state university is charging as low as N100,000? We have been collecting N65,000, when some secondary school children pay N100,000 per term and there are three terms in a year. But our university students are paying as low as N65,000 for a whole year. Is that enough to buy laboratory equipment, to pay staff salaries or to run on diesel 24 hours?
” These are issues that necessitated the increase, and before we made the increase, we have discussed with the Students Union Government, we’ve made them realise it, but definitely they would still make their complaints. We will listen to their complaints, we will inform government. At the end of the day, we will come to a conclusion,” he said.
Oke maintained that TASUED cannot afford to run inferior academic programmes, compared to what obtains in other universities.
“So, we have to charge economic fees. What we have charged is the barest minimum in reality with the existing market forces,” he emphasised.
Oke commended the students for being peaceful in their demonstration, stating that the protest did not affect the ongoing examination.
According to him, the level of maturity displayed by the students would be put into consideration during consultations.
