The President of the Nigerian Senate, Ahmad Lawan, on Tuesday, February 8, held a meeting with heads of regulatory agencies in the education sector over the alleged hike in school fees in some tertiary institutions in the country.
The meeting had in attendance, the Executive Secretaries of the National Universities Commission, Abubakar Rasheed, the Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Colleges of Education, Paulinus Okwelle, and a representative of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE).
According to Lawan, it was pertinent to convene the meeting in order to have first-hand information concerning the alleged increment of fees by some institutions after a coalition of northern group students had on Friday, Feb 2, paid him a visit in Abuja over the planned hike, especially in the northern part of the country
He explained that there was the need for all to know the true situation of the alleged increases and take appropriate measures to address it, as most of the affected students are from poor backgrounds, and the increment could be a setback on their educational pursuit.
Mr. Abubakar Rasheed who responded to the issues raised on behalf of his colleagues said it was difficult to know exactly which universities were violating the rules, but promised to consult all the universities with a template to complete in order to ascertain the exact charges that are being introduced.
