Uba Sani reverses El-Rufai’s school fees hike in Kaduna, says policy forced many students out of school

Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani has announced a reduction in tuition of all state-owned tertiary institutions in the state.

In a statement seen by News About Nigeria on Monday, the state government detailed that while the fees of Kaduna State University had been cut by 30 per cent, those of the state’s polytechnic and College of Education had been slashed by half.

Mr Sani said the downward review of the school fee is in fulfilment of his electioneering campaign.

He added that the reduction is also in response to public outcry on the current fee being charged by the institutions.

“The welfare of the people is our topmost priority. Our administration shall continue to take all measures necessary to ensure access to free and qualitative education for every child in Kaduna state from primary to secondary school,” he said.

“We will expand access to higher education, enhance teachers’ welfare and teaching standards, improve school infrastructure, build ICT competence in our students from the basic education level and intensify investments in technical & vocational education.”

The governor said he directed heads of tertiary institutions in conjunction with the ministry of education to obtain relevant information on the fees regime in state-owned tertiary institutions.

He said the team found out that the “extant fees have made many students either abandon the pursuit of tertiary education or moved to alternative institutions.

“At the end of their assignment, they made the following observations and recommendations that the extant fees regime in the state-owned tertiary institutions is burdensome and has led to a significant decline in student enrolments.

“As a caring and responsible government, we have accepted the recommendations and accordingly reviewed the fees downwards as follows: Kaduna State University (KASU) — Current Fee: N150,000, reduced to N105,000; Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic Current fee: N100,000, reduced to N50,000.

“College of Education, Gidan Waya – N75,000, reduced to N37,500; Shehu Idris College of Health Sciences & Technology, Makarfi – HND Courses current fee, N100,000 reduced to N70,000, ND Courses- N75,000 slashed to N52,000; Kaduna State College of Nursing- N100,000 reduced to N70,000.”

Nasir el-Rufai, the immediate past governor of the state, raised school tuition in Kaduna tertiary institutions in 2021.

The decision, according to the former governor, was made to “enable them to deliver quality skills and training required to tackle 21st-century challenges.”