Public Universities: Reps proposes increase in funding
By Tom Okpe
The House of Representatives has urged the Federal Government to increase funding of public Universities to moderate excessive drive for Internally Generated Revenue, IGR at the expense of popular access to public education in Nigeria.
This proposal was revealed at plenary on Wednesday at the floor of the House of Representatives during the passage of a motion on the need to investigate the acceptance fees charged by tertiary institutions in the country, sponsored by Julius Ihonvbere.
He said while leading debate on the motion that, arbitrary high acceptance fees charged by some public Universities on new students across the country had become a great matter of concern for many families, noting that; “raising frustration over the exorbitant fees which subject new students and their parents to excruciating hardship to meet up, against the backdrop that public universities are supposed to be tuition-free.
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“Acceptance Speech is discriminatory as they have become a more or less internal revenue-generating mechanism, thus constituting an impediment to the smooth process of entry into universities,” he said.
The lawmaker àlso noted that if left unchecked, acceptance fees, presently charged by tertiary institutions may surreptitiously replace school fees, thereby affecting the number of students that may gain entry.
Ihonvbere who chairs the House Committee on Tertiary Institutions and Services submitted that the consequence of exorbitant acceptance fees in public universities has led to many indigent students losing their admission as a result of their inability to afford fees.
Adopting the motion, the House mandated its committee on Tertiary institutions and services to investigate the development and report back to plenary within 4 weeks for further action.
