THE NEED TO SCRAP ACCEPTANCE FEES IN TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS By Sunday Bala Oma Special thanks to Silver bird and PRTVC Jos for heeding to our calls of engaging Political Party Flag bearers on Issue based debates. Let this continue so as to enable the electorate vote wisely.. It is no longer news that our various institutions of higher learning have become more of lucrative business centers than institutions for academic excellence. The rate of competitions amongst private, state and federal institutions in the hike in fees is so alarming that some parents will prefer to enroll their children in very exorbitant schools at the expense of the quality of education being offered. This no doubt has given several administrations the free will to explore students in various disguise. It is on this basis I am calling on all relevant authorities to declare ACCEPTANCE FEES personal-non-grata. In the beginning, it was not so. Those who enjoyed free education are responsible for these shenanigans. It is a way of directly frustrating the less privileged of the right to acquire knowledge they got for free. This also promotes greed amongst the administrators who are seen amassing wealth for themselves and their immediate family. The case of protests across board in recent years is an example of King Herod who killed James and wanted doing same to Peter when the people were silent about the matter. But when the people arose in protest against the mediocrity attitude of King Herod, the issue was left in the dungeon of history while the life of Peter was rescued. A situation when acceptance fees have become more expensive than what our session fees used to be is highly unacceptable. This janjaweed wickedness must be brought to an end. We call on all stake holders in the education sector nation-wide to halt forthwith, these attempts to frustrate the education of younger generations. Even though students and their leadership have compromised their unity on the altar of bigmanism where those who are well to do rush to pay their fees at the slightest hike in fees. Nevertheless, students and parents alike must arise to say NO to acceptance fees. I don’t need to pay for what I have already merited as approved by the UTME and Post JAMB exams. Enough is enough! Finally, I wanna use this medium to suggest the motion of introducing Parents Lecturers’ Association for Tertiary Institutions. This will help check-mate the excesses of institutions and give parents the opportunities to understand deeply, the affairs and activities of their wards which could help preserve the heritage of our Institutions. The Federal Government has introduced 200 billion naira bonds for Nigerian Universities. That is sufficient enough for them to develop and put in place, sufficient structures for sustainable development, within the time frame for which the funds is due to last. Let him that have ears, hear what the spirit is saying. God bless Nigeria our dear nation. Cc: To prominent National dailies for Publishing…
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 07:30:33 +0000