Tuition Hike: Over 4,000 Kano students may miss exams at FUD

The NAKSS says of the over 7,000 Kano indigenes who are studying at the FUD, only about 3,000 were able to complete their registration and are eligible to sit for the second-semester examination.

The National Association of Kano State Students (NAKSS) said over 4,000 students cannot afford the new tuition at the Federal University Dutse, (FUD) Jigawa State.

Some of the affected students who demonstrated at the university on Tuesday pleaded with the Kano State Government and their political representatives to help them pay their outstanding fees to enable them to sit the second-semester examination, which commences next week.

The leadership of NAKSS in the school told PREMIUM TIMES that of the over 7,000 Kano indigenes studying at FUD, only about 3,000 have paid the new tuition and completed their registration, which makes them and are eligible to sit for the second-semester examination.

The spokesperson of the students’ union government, Ibrahim Yunusa, complained that since January when the university’s management announced 200 per cent school fees increment many students and their parents have struggled to pay it.

The management of the school increased the school’s tuition from N30,000 and N40,000 to a minimum of N100,000

During the peaceful protest, the placard-bearing students drew the attention of the Kano State government to their plight. Many of them suggested they may have to drop out from school if they were not allowed to take their examination.

The deadline for registration was less than a week, Mr Yunusa said.

“So we’ve been on the issue trying to see how students can afford to pay such fees, then election time came and we got new leadership in Kano. The governor of Kano paid registration fees for Kano students schooling at Bayero University Kano (BUK).

“We, the students of FUD whose school fees were first increased, were neglected. So we’ve been calling the attention of the Kano State government to come to our help and pay the school fees for us,” Mr Yunusa said.

Mr Yunusa commended FUD management for allowing the indigene students to pay their school fees in instalments – N60,000 in the first semester while paying the remaining N40,000 in the second semester. He, however, said even with the respite, many students are still unable to pay.

“As I’m talking to you now, this is the 10th week that we resumed from holidays for the second semester, more than 40 per cent of the students have not paid these remaining 40 per cent fees. These students are faced with the challenge of being kicked out of school if they fail to pay the remaining balance.

“We wrote a lot of letters to the Kano State government to sympathise and pay these fees, and we were lucky the governor replied and directed us to go to the office of the Commissioner for Higher Education. We went to the Commissioner and attached the reply from the governor, but up till now nothing has happened.

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So in the next six days, the school will close down the registration portal and this means students who didn’t pay have automatically dismissed themselves from the school,” Mr Yunusa said.

The Kano State’s commissioner for higher education, Yusuf Kofar-mata, did not respond to calls and text messages asking for comment on the matter.