The House of Representatives has urged the Federal Government to suspend recent school fee increases by public tertiary institutions, warning that the hikes could undermine the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) and make higher education harder for struggling families to afford.
The lawmakers also directed relevant committees to investigate the increases and determine whether the adjustments were justified.
The resolutions followed a motion sponsored by Hon. Ifeoluwa Ehindero, who raised concerns that some public universities, polytechnics and colleges of education had increased tuition and other compulsory charges by more than 100 per cent.
Ehindero argued that the institutions implemented the increases without broad consultation or sufficient consideration of the economic difficulties facing Nigerian households.
The House noted that NELFUND was established to provide interest-free loans to eligible students who need financial support to pursue tertiary education.
However, lawmakers expressed concern that sudden or excessive fee increases could weaken the scheme’s effectiveness, particularly if institutions raise charges beyond the tuition benchmarks and cost structures used to plan student loans.
They warned that unchecked increases could create disparities in loan allocation and place students from low-income households at a greater disadvantage.
The lawmakers also cautioned that higher fees could force more students to abandon their studies, trigger unrest on campuses and weaken public confidence in the government’s commitment to affordable education.
They cited Section 18 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, which sets out the state’s responsibility to promote equal and adequate educational opportunities at all levels.
To address the situation, the House urged the Federal Government to increase financial support to public tertiary institutions, reducing their reliance on internally generated revenue from student fees and other charges.
It also called on the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Universities Commission to engage institutional managements on suspending the increases and reviewing tuition structures in line with prevailing economic conditions.
The House mandated its committees on University Education, Federal Polytechnics and Higher Technical Education, and Federal Colleges of Education to investigate the circumstances surrounding the fee adjustments.
The committees are expected to examine the extent of the increases and establish whether the institutions had sufficient justification for raising their charges.
The proposed intervention seeks to protect students’ access to higher education and ensure that rising tuition costs do not defeat NELFUND’s purpose of helping financially disadvantaged Nigerians pursue their academic goals.
