As the Lagos State University (LASU) announces Monday for resumption after months of strike by the institution’s lecturers and protests against fee hike by the students, the Lagos Democratic Movement (LDM) ― a coalition of civil activists and political actors in Lagos state ― on Friday expressed concern over the controversial reduction in the school fees as announced by the Governor Babatunde Fashola-led administration recently.
The reduction is between 34 and 60 percent making the new fees, as approved by the school’s Governing Council, fall between N76,250 for a final year student in the Arts (49.3 per cent reduction) and N158,250 for a 200-level Engineering and Medical (Direct entry) students.
The new fees further shows that a 100-level student in the Adebola Adegunwa School of Communication will now pay N103,250 and a 200-level student (Direct Entry) will be required to pay same fee, while a 200-level returning student pays N88,250. For the College of Medicine, fresh students and final year medical students will now pay N115,750; while a 200-level (Direct Entry) student in the same college will pay N158,250, representing a 36.4 per cent reduction.
Engineering students in 100 level would each pay N115,750; students from 200 to 500 levels will be paying between N106,750 and N143,250; those at the lower levels paying more.
Also, new students in the Faculty of Management Sciences and final year (500-level) student will now be paying between N86,750 and N113,250, with those in the lower levels paying more. The Faculty of Science got a reduction of between 42.3 and 51.6 per cent for those studying Fisheries, Botany and Zoology.
But the LDM, a coalition of three organisations headed independently by Olanrewaju Suraju, Debo Adeniran and Lanre Adeleke; asserted that the new fees regime in LASU remain prohibitive, largely insensitive and diversionary. The purported reduction in LASU fees leaves much to be desire as the plight of the students and their parents still remain largely the same.
“LDM condemn the categorized reductions in the controversial school fees as announced by governor Fashola following weeks of protests by the students. LDM wishes to assert that the supposed ‘gesture’ represents gross misrepresentation of the valid arguments that have been canvassed against the hike in the fees by a wide range of stakeholders,” the coalition disclosed in a statement.
“LDM is indeed alarmed that the All Progressives Party (APC) led administration in Lagos state is yet to fully appreciate the crucial need to make education a common leveller between the rich and the poor in the society.
“LDM strongly affirm that Fashola-led administration ought to be more sensitive to the plights of students and parents as a demonstration of genuine commitment to deepening democracy and development beyond mere aesthetics that preoccupies attention of government and seeks to relegate the very people who are the raison d’être of governance.”
The coalition reminded Fashola and the leadership of APC in Lagos state that, it is absolutely untenable to argue or insist that qualitative education is possible only when it is prohibitive.
“It is our conviction in LDM that qualitative education does not necessarily have to be expensive and inaccessible to the people as currently the case with LASU. LDM wish to further assert that any policy that seeks to make education the exclusive privilege of the rich in the society and beyond the reach of majority in the society, through ‘appropriate pricing‘ as in the case with LASU, is clearly anti-people and unambiguously counter-progressive,” the group said.
“LDM is un-persuaded by arguments from government quarters which tend to suggest that our people should regard university education as a luxury served à la carte by the elite to the exclusion of majority of our young citizens. We consider discrimination against innocent and qualified students on the basis that their parents cannot afford the prohibitive and discriminatory fees attached to some ‘elite’ courses of study as illogical and unacceptable.”
It also expressed belief that the categorisation of some courses as prestigious and status-conferral; “regrettably by people in authority is misleading and divisive. Such misleading and divisive ploy by people who benefited from free education and who ordinarily should appreciate the plights of our students and the parents further attests to the misplacement of priority by the government as manifested in its outrageous and discriminatory education policy.”
LDM asserted its convinction that education should remain a major priority of our democratic leadership and that government must be held to account on its commitment to providing qualitative and affordable education.
“LDM therefore demand that Lagos state government should accede to the request of the students and parents by reversing the prohibitive policy and adopt a more people-friendly position that would make education affordable and accessible in LASU as well as all Lagos state owned tertiary institutions,” the group said.
“LDM therefore call on Lagos state government to make more consultations with stakeholders, without further delay, as a way of making genuine and enduring resolution of the impasse. LDM also demand that the Lagos state government, without further delay, should take urgent and immediate steps to resolve all pending issues with the view to ensuring uninterrupted academic activities in LASU.”
