The government explaining its principle of “No child must be left behind” said, it has since the introduction of new fees regime in the Lagos State University three years ago consecutively doubled its budget for scholarship for its residents to enable indigent students have access to education. This is in addition to providing bursary award to all indigenes in higher institutions across the country.
Addressing members of zone D of National Association of Nigerian Students comprising South West, who made a peaceful protest to him on the situation of higher education in the country, the State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), said apart from raising the budget, his administration also put a N200 million grant in place for LASU students adding, “Our resolution is that no student will be left behind as a result of inability to pay the school fees. We have raised the fees but we have also provided a cushion”.
“Get admission to that school and if you cannot pay we will give you scholarship to cover the course you got admission for. The debate is access. If there are children who cannot get in as a result let me have their list and the list of those who have dropped out as a result. We will give scholarship. So in a sense, what we have taken with one hand we have given back with the other hand”, he said.
Fashola, who recalled that the decision to increase the fees was part of the recommendations of Visitation Panel set up by his government in line with the demand of the students of the school added, “You came to the House of Assembly and asked the House to pass a resolution compelling me as Visitor to the School to set up a Visitation Panel. It was your decision that the school be upgraded.
“We didn’t jump into LASU, you came here to the House of Assembly asking the House to pass a resolution that I should set up a Panel as Visitor of the School. The House passed the Resolution and I set up the Panel and the consequent decisions are what we are implementing, upgrade of Infrastructure, building new classrooms, new library, a Senate Building and so on” the Governor said.
Noting that the government’s intervention in the school has been yielding results , Fashola explained that almost all the courses in the school have been accredited by the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) as against what it was pre-2011.
On the question of the number of students the university could admit at a time, Fashola explained that the State Government is limited by the National Universities Commission quota on the number of students to be admitted at every session adding that it is required for the purpose of accreditation of courses.
“Every University in this country has a limit of the students it should admit based on the spaces that we have and it is the NUC that allots that number as regulators of Universities Education. Often times you may hear that accreditation has been withdrawn; it is as a result of when schools are crowded”, the Governor explained.
He recalled that some Law graduates from the school could not go to Law School four years after graduation because NUC said the University exceeded the number of students to admit adding that he had to personally intervene last year to the Director of Education in the Law School to allow the graduates take their examination.
“If we continue to exceed our quota then we will continue to have the problem”, the Governor said adding that although Lagos State needs another university his administration has resolved that it would not build another university until LASU problem is sorted out and the institution repositioned “from what you call it to what it should be”.
He said the university was built to accommodate both children of the rich and the poor pointing out that building a university exclusively for children of the poor and another for children of the rich would tantamount to setting a time bomb for the future.
“A university must be a place where children of the poor and children of the rich can develop together as a generation. For me and for those who advise us it was a time bomb waiting to explode in future. When you develop a university and say it is for the poor I don’t think there is a chance there. That is my view”.
Commenting on disruption of academic activities in the school, the Governor who offered to meet with the student on Thursday to show them the facts behind the decision to increase fees, declared, “I want a solution in LASU. If you say disruption, it is not a one-way thing. This one is not your lecturers. We have had some measure of stability in LASU until this one. Even if the lecturers did anything to provoke you, you should have sought to reach us”.
Based on the agreement reached at Monday’s meeting, the Governor will meet with the students again on Thursday when the parties would evolve ways of moving the school forward.
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