NAN-H-63
Fees
Abuja, Dec. 1, 2016 (NAN) Some Nigerians say that high fees in private universities are hindering the efforts of Nigerians to acquire higher education.
The expressed the view in a survey conducted by the News Agency of Nigeria.
Two lecturers in Abia, Mr John Ndukauba and Rev.- Fr. Christian Anokwuru, said high fees charged by private universities limited university admission to the rich.
They said that the development had dimmed the hope that the establishment of private universities would ease the difficulties experienced by students in gaining university admission.
“On the contrary, recent statistics released by the National Universities Commission showed that the gaps in university admissions are still there,” Ndukauba said.
Ndukauba, who teaches Mass Communication at Rhema University, a private institution in Aba, said that fees charged by private universities ranged from about N400,000 to N500,000.
He wondered how many parents could afford to send their wards to such institutions in view of the fees.
Ndukauba, however, said that the fees could be justified on account of the huge investment on equipment and infrastructure in private universities.
Commenting on the number of first class graduates churned out by private universities,
he said the development was based on the seriousness and commitment of both the students and lecturers.
Ndukauba said that because of the size of the students in private universities, it was easy for the lecturers to manage them.
He said the quality of the lecturers in private universities could not be doubted, considering that majority of them came from public universities.
Also Anokwuru, who teaches at Abia State Polytechnic, Aba, said exorbitant fees in private universities had further compounded the problem of university admission for students from poor homes.
He said that proprietors of private universities were striving to attain the highest standard possible and as such could not afford to compromise on the quality of the lecturers.
The Public Affairs Director of Tansian University, Umunya, Anambra, Mr Chidi-Peters Okorie, said the emergence of private universities came as a result of difficulties in getting admission in public universities.
“The present day admission process of the public universities is fraught with bureaucracy, nepotism and corruption that explains why more students on their own prefer private universities,’’ he said.
Okorie said parents preferred their wards attending private universities to the public schools to check incessant strikes, disruption in academic calendar and unnecessary prolongation of programmes.
“It is not true that all private universities collect huge tuition fees like N1.5 million, one million naira, etc.
‘’In Tansian University we collect N250,000 tuition which includes accommodation within an academic calendar for the student,’’ he said.
A former commissioner for Education in Ebonyi, Dr Agha Okoro, said private universities had opened up the academic space for students.
“The liberalisation of university education is one of the best things that have happened to the education industry.
“Many of these private owned universities are known to have excelled in terms of academic performance and the quality of graduates they produced,” Okoro said.
Mr Charles Nweke, a student at a private University in Anambra said the universities employed qualified teaching and non-teaching staff contrary to negative perception in some quarters.
“University education is all about impartation of functional education, research and manpower development which private higher institutions are established to achieve.
“It is an error for anyone to think that private universities compromise set standard and yet their products are hot chase in the labour market.
“The curricula used by the private universities are the same uses by government owned universities since they all got approval from NUC,’’ Nweke said.
Mr Okorie Igwenwonu, a retired permanent secretary in Ebonyi, said private universities were competing favourably with their government counterparts in terms of teaching, learning and research.
Igwenwonu whose two children graduated from Madonna University, Okija, a private university, admitted that the tuition fees in private universities were high.
“I have two graduates trained in the Madonna University in Anambra state. They never came home as a result of any strike action or students’ unrest.
“Apart from maintaining high level of academic excellence, the school also upholds high moral values which helps graduates of the institution to excel, ” he said.
Another parent, Mr Alex Orji, however called for government ‘s intervention in the fees charged by private universities to make admission affordable for ordinary Nigerians.
“Most of the universities our people go to study abroad are privately-owned and yet they have international recognition.
“The idea of granting licence to private individuals to establish private universities is a good development because it will increase the chances of number of people.
“My only problem is that the tuition fees in these schools are always on the high side and thereby limit entry only to the children of the rich and wealthy,” Orji said. (NAN)
Reporters/JCE
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Edited by Chukwudi Ekezie