{"id":66564,"date":"2023-09-15T17:35:31","date_gmt":"2023-09-15T17:35:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=66564"},"modified":"2023-09-15T17:35:31","modified_gmt":"2023-09-15T17:35:31","slug":"unilag-claims-resolution-of-disagreement-with-students-reduces-fees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=66564","title":{"rendered":"UNILAG claims resolution of disagreement with students, reduces fees"},"content":{"rendered":"

The management of\u00a0 the University of Lagos has announced a reduction in fees, after a meeting with the executives of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS).<\/span><\/p>\n

Recall that the hike in obligatory fees by the institution had attracted a lot of uproar by students of the institution, leading to peaceful\u00a0\u00a0protests by some students who stormed the university environs chanting songs and displaying placards on several occasions in the past week.<\/span><\/p>\n

It also indicated N176,325 as mandatory charges for one academic session for courses with laboratory and studio.<\/span><\/p>\n

The university had in a statement in August put mandatory charges for new undergraduate students at\u00a0\u00a0N126, 325, for courses without laboratory\/studio, for one academic session.<\/span><\/p>\n

A further breakdown of the approved mandatory charges for one academic year or session for returning students showed that they would pay N100,750 for courses without laboratory and studio.<\/span><\/p>\n

UNILAG management attributed the hike to the need for students to get the best learning experience.<\/span><\/p>\n

Addressing newsmen immediately after the meeting late on Thursday evening, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Folashade Ogunsola, expresses satisfaction at the\u00a0outcome of the deliberations.<\/span><\/p>\n

She noted that the role of dialogue in resolving issues could not be overemphasised.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe just had a roundtable discussion with our faculty presidents and the NANS leadership and we also had the NANS President come into Lagos.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe also had the NANS Southwest leaders and that of the Lagos chapter. It was a very fruitful deliberation. Like everything, once you start something, you come back to the table to discuss and we are always listening to our students.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we heard loud and clear that they really wanted a reduction in fees, we felt it was important that we listened to that.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd so, right now, management and the NANS have worked through how we could reduce,\u00a0in a way that will not hurt the university, but we will make it a little better for parents and students alike.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor returning students, we have agreed to take away N20,000 across board,\u201d the vice chancellor stated.<\/span>
\nGiving a further breakdown of the outcome of the meeting, Ogunsola explained\u00a0\u00a0that rather than pay N100,000 as stipulated earlier, returning students would now pay N80,000 per annum.<\/span><\/p>\n

She said that those with laboratory would now pay N120,000, as against the N140,000.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor the incoming students, we slashed N10,000 from their fees each, because when we fixed these bills,\u00a0\u00a0it was based on data, it wasn\u2019t just arbitrary and we already had moderations of these bills,\u201d she noted.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to her, some of the incoming\u00a0students are paying in installments and therefore, with the slash, it will reduce what they will pay the next round.<\/span><\/p>\n

She noted that for those who had\u00a0paid fully, the institution would probably carry over the slash as credit, or look of means of giving them back but was yet to decide on it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u00a0\u00a0management\u00a0had at the time the bills were\u00a0brought out, I will say, has been moderated at least three times. Again, we also saw from the expenses that it was a bit hard to pass it on at once, so, it has come down extensively, as we always listen.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe know with it, we will struggle,\u00a0we have to keep struggling but at least right now, it is better than what we had before\u00a0,\u201d Ogunsola stated.<\/span><\/p>\n

She added that another thing that was discussed at the meeting was the issue of the N25,000 that the students had been paying per annum\u00a0for the past 15 years, which amounted to 208 dollars.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNow, the 100,000 we are asking for per annum is 107. So, in real terms, the buying power of N100,000 is about 59 per cent of what N25,000 was, 15 years ago. So, it is really because we had the fall of the Naira, which made it seem like an increase to,\u201d she explained.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ogunsola commended the efforts of the NANS president in ensuring that the issue was settled amicably, adding that he showed sincerity of purpose.<\/span><\/p>\n

She also lauded the other student representatives, Faculty Presidents,\u00a0\u00a0for their show of maturity while the deliberations lasted.<\/span><\/p>\n

On his part, the NANS President, Usman Barambu, emphasised the need for SUGs in universities, where there are none, adding that with such bodies on ground, issues concerning students were quickly tackled before they got to an undesirable level.<\/span><\/p>\n

He also urged the SUGs where they exist,\u00a0to always ensure they carry students along whenever there were issues to be addressed with management.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have reached agreement with the university management that they are going to return the SUG, which is a very big plus to us as students. If we had such on ground here, I would not have had need to come down here now, unless\u00a0\u00a0they finish all the negotiations.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut because there is none, that is why we have to be here.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, we have also been able to ensure that the utility bills are brought down to N15,000, while the convocation fees has come down to N27,000.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe also succeeded in bringing down the hostel fees to N43,000 as against the initial N90,000, the medical hostel at the College of Medicine Idi-araba to N65,000 from the initial N120,000.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe fees for the Sodeinde hostel here on campus too was also reduced from N250,000 to N135,000,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

He urged the Federal Government to also be responsive to the yearnings of the country\u2019s youth by ensuring that it paid attention to the health, education and agricultural sectors.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c Having removed fuel\u00a0subsidy, we expect government to invest more in education and ensure that we get quality and affordable education,\u201d he noted. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u25aa\ufe0e By NAN<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The management of\u00a0 the University of Lagos has announced a reduction in fees, after a meeting with the executives of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS). Recall that the hike in obligatory fees by the institution had attracted a lot of uproar by students of the institution, leading to peaceful\u00a0\u00a0protests by some students who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":65589,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5783,7],"tags":[1543,886,2125],"class_list":["post-66564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-education","category-news","tag-fees","tag-nans","tag-unilag"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=66564"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66564\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/65589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=66564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=66564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=66564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}