Hundreds of students of the Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED), Ijagun, Ogun State, on Monday, protested against exorbitant charges by the school management.
The students, led by the Student Union Government President, Comrade Ramon Adeyemi, stormed the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Secretariat, Oke-Ilewo, Abeokuta, amid tight security manned by the men of the Ogun State Police Command, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Department of State Security Service.
They faulted increment in fees and dues by the school authorities under the guise of raising Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) for the running of the institution.
Nigerian Tribune recalled that lecturers of the university, had on the 29th of January, embarked on two weeks total and comprehensive strike.
The demands of the Union included payments of 12 months deduction to staff cooperatives; non-payment of promotion arrears to academic staff; non-payment of earned academic allowance and government insensitivity to the funding of the institution.
According to the students, the university was last funded in the past 24 months, hence the hike in fees and dues to sustain the 12 years premier university of education in the country.
The students opposed increase in acceptance fee of new intakes from N30, 000 to N40, 000; final clearance fee for graduating students from N25, 000 to N45, 000; increase in Vocational Studies fees from N1, 000 to N25, 000; payment of N10, 200 as Student Tax; N7, 500 as payment as replacement of lost final clearance and N1, 500 fee for any reprint of school fees receipt.
In a letter of protest addressed to the State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, the students identified victimization of students’ activist; inadequate learning facilities; underfunding of the school by the state government; inadequate learning facilities as some of the challenges confronting the school.
The letter reads partly,” Education that is supposed to be the leading social responsibility of the government. It is supposed to be seen as the major way of giving back to the society, but has turned to source of income and revenue for some people. Education is totally commercialized in TASUED. You pay for everything!
“As a result of several complains and cries from the students, the leadership of the students’ Union government tried all they could to engage the school management to look into our plights in view of the present economic reality in the country and see ways of managing the situation at hand.
“The students’ union was made to realize by the university management that there is need for all the increment and introduction of fees and dues as the state government has failed to give the school what the school deserves in terms of fund. According to the information at hand, it’s clearly stated that the state had failed to give TASUED a kobo for the past 24 months.
and then