The Federal Government’s proposal to have parents pay N10,000 per semester to increase university funding was rejected by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
Remember that the levy was proposed by the National Parent Teacher Association of Nigeria, which had also requested a meeting with the government to discuss the ongoing ASUU strike.
We have written to the Education Minister’s office to request a meeting with him so that we may present our ideas.
We propose that each family contribute N10,000 per semester to the schools’ general coffers. That is our own contribution beyond the required governmental payments to increase university funding.
The term “parent support levy” has been proposed for use in reference to this proposed fee at colleges and universities. The impact of the strike has reached us. We urge the ASUU and the Federal Government to settle their differences quickly. Dr. Ademola Ekundayo, NAPTAN’s Public Relations Officer, made this revelation in an interview with Punch on Tuesday.
On the other hand, in response to the proposed levy on Thursday, ASUU National President Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke said that parents should intervene by joining the body in increasing pressure on the apex government.
On Thursday, during an interview on Arise Television, Osodeke made the announcement.
What this group ought to be doing, in my opinion, is telling the government to do its job. They need to encourage the government to invest in their people’s education with tax dollars, as is done in other countries.
We are the worst educated nation in Africa, and yet we insist on calling ourselves a giant. It’s common to see students from Nigeria traveling to neighboring countries like Ghana, Benin Republic, Togo, and others for higher education, but the reverse is not true.
So they should put even more pressure on the government to make education a top priority, as ASUU is doing. That beats the N10,000 any day.