INDEED, it has been three years of unending crises at the Lagos State University, LASU, Ojo, since October 2011, when Governor Babatunde Fashola, sent a White Paper to the University’s Governing Council, announcing the implementation of a new fees regime, which saw tuition fees increased steeply from N25, 000 to as much as N348, 750.
Since the 2011/2012 academic session, Vanguard has gathered that there have been a downturn in the population of candidates, choosing the institution during the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, conducted by the apex exam body, the Joint Matriculation Examination Board, JAMB.
To restore relative peace to the 30-year-old institution, the students have said that until the governor accedes to their proposal of N65, 500 for freshmen and N46, 500 for old students, there will be no end in sight to the crisis rocking the institution.
However, having set-up an executive committee led by Transport Commissioner, Mr. Kayode Opeifa, whose report was submitted yesterday, many have begin to ask if the government will budge and accept the students’ proposal?
Admission profile:
2009
LASU-tableTwo academic sessions before the introduction of the new fees regime, available statistics shows that in the 2009/2010 academic session 5, 917 students were matriculated.
2010
In the 2010/2011 academic session, 4, 311 students matriculated. Breakdown: Faculty of Arts (471), Faculty of Management (1008), Faculty of Social Sciences (275), Faculty of Education (496), Faculty of Sciences (387), Faculty of Law (143), School of Communication (185), College of Medicine (55), Faculty of Engineering (76) and School of Transport (31).
2011
When the new fees regime was introduced in the 2011/2012 academic session, of the 4, 903 students admitted, just 1, 951 students, representing 39.8 per cent were matriculated. Breakdown: Faculty of Arts: 322; Management Sciences: 349; Social Sciences: 24; Science: 391; Education: 477; Law: 31; and Engineering: 41; School of Communication, Transport and College of Medicine matriculated 231, 68 and 17 students respectively.
Reacting to the low turnout witnessed from this session, the student union President, Mr, Nurudeen Yusuf said: “The first victims of the hike accepted their admission without any prior knowledge of a 985% increase in fees. They had applied for admission based on the old fee regime of N25,000. The fee hike drastically reduced the intakes for 2011/2012 academic session. Of the 4, 903 admitted, just a paltry 1,951 students representing 39.8 per cent were matriculated. This act alone marked the era of injustice to students and Lagosians at large.”
2012
Similarly, of the 2, 784 students offered admission in the 2012/2013 academic session, 2,008 were cleared for matriculation.
During the last matriculation for the 2013/2014 set of students, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. John Obafunwa said “a total of 1,582 candidates were offered admission but only 1,119 candidates were cleared for matriculation.”
This implies that 463 candidates representing 29 per cent were unable to raise the first installment of 70 per cent across the various faculties.
Unfortunate statistics
For the 2013/2014 academic session which has been stalled by staff union strikes, and recess, Vanguard gathered that the university was not able to fill its National Universities Commission, NUC stipulated carrying capacity of 4, 000.
This situation however set in since 2011 when the new fees regime was introduced.
According to data available to Vanguard, in this disrupted 2013/2014 academic session, the 55 departments of the institution have been marred by low students population.
Accounting Education (17), Arabic (2), Banking and Finance (46), Biochemistry (65), Biology Education (4), Botany (7), Business Administration (117), Business Education (1), Chemical and Polymer Engineering (16), Chemistry (22), Chemistry Education (3), Common and Islamic Law (6) and Computer Science (59).
Others are Dentistry (35), Economics (92), English (77), Law (94), Mass Communication (43), Medicine and Surgery (63), Micro Biology (70), Political Science (78), Sociology (44), Zoology (1), Fisheries and Aquatic Biology (2), French (1), Physics (1) among others.
Shutdown twice in 3 years
Unfortunately, following students protests and rampages occasioned by the fees hike, the school had within three academic sessions (2011/2012, 2012/2013, 2013/2014), been shut-down twice for several weeks, aside the six months nationwide ASUU strike between July and December 2013.
After the six-months ASUU strike, towards the end of the second semester of the 2012/2013 academic session, the school was shut-down on January 23, 2014, following students’ rampage over the closure of the registration portal against 1,292 of its students who had not yet registered for the second semester examinations. The school, however re-opened on February 24, 2014, for their exams.
Again, following the ongoing strike by ASUU-LASU and SSANU-LASU on May 20 and 22, respectively, the university authorities on June 2, ordered the students to go on an immediate recess for fear of uncertainty.
Since then, the irate students have always taken to the streets, to seek reversal in their tuition fees, claiming that it has been the root cause of the unending crises rocking the institution.
Fees
Recall that since the 2011/ 2012 academic session new students have been paying: Arts/Education (N193,750); Social & Management Sciences (N223,750); Law (N248,750); Communication/Transport (N238,750); Science (N258,750); Engineering (N298,750) and College of Medicine (N348,750).
However, old students, whose last set are now in 400 level still pay the old fees ranging between N25, 000 and N46, 000. Also, extra-year students are to retroactively pay the old fees.
SOURCE: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/06/lasu-fees-hike-enrolment-dwindles-students-govt-disagree/
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