University fees in Nigeria is too cheap – Oby Ezekwesili

“We are taking down tertiary education to a level where a person is comfortable to pay almost N500,000 for the children in a top secondary school but once the children go into the university, their parents are ready to join them to protest about the pricing of university education. In the process of doing that, you are compromising quality and relevance.”

Ezekwesili said the cost of tertiary education in the country is too cheap.

The former minister of education said the Nigerians is compromising the quality of educational sector

  • Ezekwesili, however, give a recommendation on how federal government can make education accessible to all without compromising it quality.

According report from the Cable, Ezekwesili disclosed this on Thursday, May 23, 2019, at the launch of Edfin, Nigeria’s first educational microfinance bank.

Omokoshaban.com learn that she urged Nigerian government to find a solution that does not compromise the quality of education.

According to her, “There is a matter of how do you share the cost of getting a tertiary education. Unfortunately, our society did not come to the understanding that even education financing does not have to be a problem,.

“You must have a solution that the pricing of education does not get taken down to the level where it cannot sustain quality. That is what’s going on now.

“We are taking down tertiary education to a level where a person is comfortable to pay almost N500,000 for the children in a top secondary school but once the children go into the university, their parents are ready to join them to protest about the pricing of university education. In the process of doing that, you are compromising quality and relevance.”

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In her consideration, she tell wealthy Nigerians to pay the right price while Nigerian government should subsidise education for the less privileged.

She said: “Those who have the capacity to pay should pay the right price for tertiary education and for those without the capacity to pay, edufinance and a subsidy from the federal government that is well designed will come to ensure that they are not left out of education.”

She further attribute the challenge Nigeria is facing currently to educational sector.

She said: “Our country is in trouble because education is in crisis. A decade plus ago, I told the mission that if we did not address the crisis in education that in a matter of years. In fact, my prognosis at that time was that by 2020 that we will produce the most hardened criminals. “There are people who called me to say you said 2020, it happened earlier than that. As minister of education, I said the problem is not about funding. If you fund a dysfunction well, you will get a well-funded dysfunction.”

Contributing to event, Bunmi Lawson, the managing director of the microfinance bank, said that bank would make sure that the bank will provide access to finance for educational needs.

He said “We are here today to mark the start of a journey one wherein the future everyone who wants to has access to quality education; where those who need finance; or you are a parent, you may be a student wanting to further your education or a teacher who need loans to improve their standard of living or their teaching skills. All stakeholders in the education ecosystem having easy access to the finance they need is the future we envisage,”.

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