Kunle Awosiyan reports that the recent hike in the fees of Lagos State University (LASU) has taken a toll on the student population of the institution.SCORES of Lagos State government civil servants whose children recently gained admission to the Lagos State University, LASU, Ojo have deferred the admission due to the recent tuition fee hike. A civil servant (names withheld) in one of the state ministries told Nigerian Tribune that she had deferred the admission of one of her two children who gained admission for the 2011/2012 academic session because she lacked the fund to sponsor them. The civil servant, who also lives in one of the state residential buildings in Ikorodu area, is currently struggling to get about N1 million to pay for the mortgage scheme introduced by the government. According to her, each occupant of the three bedroom block is expected to pay 30 per cent of the N3 million mortgaged property upfront to become a permanent owner. While thinking of how to retain the accommodation with her new salary, which stands between N90, 000 and 100, 000 for a staff on level 13, the new tuition fees, which now stands between N193, 000 and N348, 000 abruptly distorts her thought. She said, 'I don't know how to do it now. I have two children who are lucky enough to have passed the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination and have made LASU the university their first choice but one of them must stay back now.' But for a level seven officer and below who earns between N60, 000 and N18, 000, sponsoring a child to LASU is a bigger task but instead of protesting the policy they have adapted to grumbling within the confines of their offices at the state secretariat. They lack the boldness to protest the government policy. A level seven Public Relations Officer in the state civil service bemoaned the new LASU fee, saying that the policy had since disrupted her plan for 2012. She had promised to assist her brother who had gained admission to LASU but she suddenly realised that her salary would not be enough to guarantee a space for the brother at the university. She said, 'We are thinking of changing the admission to Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye or Tai Solarin University of Education. I'm responsible for my brother's education since our parents died long ago. All of them look up to me as the breadwinner but I lack the financial capability to do so now that education is costly.' It is obvious that with the new LASU fee, only Lagos staff with other sources of income will be able to sponsor their children to the state-owned university. This confirms the position of the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Remi Ibirogba, who, during a chat with members of the State House Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) about three months ago, placidly said that LASU was no more for poor people. He said that he paid over N600, 000 as school fee for one of his children in a private university and that anybody who wished to enrol his child in LASU must be ready to pay between N193, 000 and N348, 000. No doubt, the consequence of the fee hike is visible with many parents looking elsewhere while the authority is also lamenting low enrolment for the first time in LASU. Nigerian Tribune observed that only few students that gained admission to the university could pay the new tuition fee while the larger number had sought tertiary education elsewhere. However, the state governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola, had extended the registration period so that the new students could pay the new fee but his gesture could not help the situation as parents and guardians sought admission in less expensive universities. The vice chancellor of the institution, Professor John Obafunwa, had earlier called for the extension of the registration deadline which was previously fixed for Friday, December 29, 2011, and an approval for the payment of school fees by both fresh and returning students in two instalments of two thirds before registration and one third not later than one month afterwards. In his letter dated Thursday, January 5, 2012, the vice chancellor told the governor that the extension of the registration deadline would correct the shortfall in the required number of students registered which was just 10,367 or 59 per cent of the 17,679 students expected to fulfil the registration requirement. As of January 5, this year 9,217 or 70 per cent out of the 13,111 returning students had paid their school fees and completed their registration process, while only 1,150 or 25 per cent of the 4,568 fresh students had registered for their various programmes. It will be recalled, on Friday, January 6, 2012, Fashola approved the extension of the deadline for registration of both fresh and returning students of the University, to Friday, January 13, 2012 from the initial date December29, 2011. The students were also given the concession of paying their fees in two instalments of 70 ' 30 per cent. But despite the extension and instalment payment of the fee, our reporter gathered that about 50 per cent of the students due for admission failed to turn up for registration as of Wednesday February 1, 2012. According to one of the new students in the Department of English Language, who identified himself as Nurudeen Badmus, only 15 students out of about 60 admitted for the programme had registered.
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