Managing School Fees Hike And Students Protest: A Tasking Scenario That Can Better Be Handled With Early Dialogue, Sensitivity
The Oasis Reporters
September 3, 2024
As an interested stakeholder in educational management and services, I have often watched certain periods in educational institutions with keen interest.
It was amused and interested sometime in 2018 when I suddenly received a text message from the management of University of Ibadan summoning me to meeting of stakeholders. Something akin to a Parents Teacher’s parley that I often attended as a father with kids in primary and secondary schools in the past.
Universities then did not easily engage in such parleys because their students were seen nominally as adults who could make their decisions with proper thoughts.
But students in tertiary institutions nowadays are mostly teenagers ( broadly speaking, seen as children just emerging out of childhood.
So I attended the parley. The then Vice Chancellor gave a pep talk while showing some slides that depicted deteriorating infrastructure from halls of residences etc.
Therefore the University needed more money since the subvention from the Federal government was in decline.
Incidentally, one of the halls had had a part of it’s roof blown away by a wind storm that hit the University.
Practically everyone agreed that it was necessary for stakeholders to increase whatever fee they were paying.
While that was ongoing, a few students were demonstrating with placards that complained about the hike in fees for medical students.
Cutting into the present time, a new fee schedule was circulated in the social media about a rise in University fees. Through the Social Media also, there were comments from some students indicating the intention to either defer their academic tenure or pull out of the university.
Well, a university realizes that without students or with a depleted student population, the business of education would be incomplete. Then suddenly, that circular students and stakeholders had seen was declared as fake. Students were urged to resume studies after paying the modest accommodation fees.
The issue of the payable fees was diplomatically pushed to the back burner. It was said that discussions were ongoing between the university authorities and the Federal government (who are the convening authority (or if you like, the proprietary authority).
By the time the authorities insisted on the stated fee, the students seemed restive. And knowing what heightened emotions could bring forth, students were asked to vacate the Halls of residence. A preemptive move to avoid untoward situations.
All these were good measures to safeguard the campus.
Looking at it from another angle, everyone in the country realizes that Nigeria is facing the worst inflationary trends since the 60s. Nigerians have never had it this bad. A scenario today of the dollar rising above 1,500 naira in value. Just imagine.
As it affects the general society, the campuses can therefore not be exempt. This is a message that should be explained at all times through talk shows and discussions because the university is not an island unto itself. It calls from understanding from all.
Besides that, let the University double up and build a bridge between academia and industry into the market. Let them use innovative thinking and technology to elevate life on campus. This should come on the backdrop of an educational system that trains students to be ready for the industry and the market. They should be trained to be creators, like other well endowed universities in other climes. Students learning without aids is not ideal.
Imagine a scenario where a lecturer would be describing a particular experiment because the items needed for a physical demonstration is unavailable. Let learning and teaching be more meaningful. Even the lecturers should be better remunerated, or they would migrate to other institutions outside of the country, leaving students staying in the country without sufficient lecturers.
Let there be a revamp.
There are many things that the university can do also to be a power hub on its own that will impact positively on the society.
Take for instance, almost all universities in Nigeria have been crying over electricity shortages.
If Nigeria can have a professor Barth Nnaji who lectured in universities abroad and who eventually led the charge to produce a power station for the Aba Industrial clusters, then it means that his sideline engagements with fellow professors in his discipline of electrical engineering can give a direction for the staff and students in electrical engineering in University of Ibadan to start finding ways of getting their own home built power plant that may save costs and give abundant electricity.
Problem solved.
Many other societal solutions waiting to be solved with a deepened university culture and engagement. But the nation is sitting on it.
Do all that and get students interested in learning, no matter the cost while they build themselves for the present and future economy.
It can be done, starting now.
The idea behind asking students to quit campuses and Halls of residence abruptly may save some ugly situations that may not have been envisaged. But the disruptions to schedules and planning is better imagined. Students from distant places that have nowhere else to go would be placed in a quandary. Where should they go?
Greg Abolo
gregabolo@gmail.com
