By Aare Afe Babalola

SOURCES of funding for university other than government grant: Many well- meaning Nigerians have suggested other means of funding education in public universities. They have suggested tuition fees, scholarships, loans, donations, endowment, examination fees, etc. Over the years, I have suggested that tuition fees is a source of funding university education.

In a paper titled, “Higher Education Funding; International Comparison”, by Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD, it was stated that tuition fees are becoming international rule. Eight of the 13 OECD countries analysed in the paper charged tuition fees of some sort. In Canada and US, tuition fee is on the rise. In Japan, with effect from 2000, state universities were given freedom to set their own tuition fee level. 

It is heart-warming that as far back as 1996, the Committee of Registrars of Nigerian Universities sent a powerful memo to the Federal Government on diversification of funding system. The solutions suggested by the Registrars in 1996 include the following: (a) Parents who can pay fees should be allowed to pay instead of preventing them by declaring a free education policy which is not matched with commensurate financial backing. (b) No student who qualifies for admission should be denied higher education merely because of his/her inability to pay fees; (c) All tiers of government from Local Council to Federal Government should be part of the fee paying process; (d) The private sector should be encouraged to be part of the scheme.

To achieve the objectives stated above the Registrars suggested the following guidelines:

1. The Federal Government may provide scholarships on merit covering 100 per cent tuition to about 30 per cent of those who properly gain admission to the universities. Tuition will of course be different from institution to institution as indicated above. Additional loans may be granted to cover a proportion of other cost of living and books, while parents or guardians take care of the rest, which will be minimal.

2. Again, scholarships may be granted to cover about 75 per cent of tuition for the next 30 per cent on merit. And additional loans may be granted to cover another segment of the cost of living and books.

3. State governments should also follow suit by granting scholarships and loans according to their own criteria to cover the remaining 40 per cent of the population of admitted students from their states.

4. Local Councils may grant scholarships and loans to indigent students from their Local Council communities. Local authorities are best at determining criteria for indigence and membership of a Local Council.

5. The Federal Government may again grant scholarships and loans to those from disadvantaged areas who have not been adequately covered by 1 – 4 above.

6. Universities themselves may grant scholarships based on their own criteria.

The above guidelines will work on the following conditions:  That no one will benefit, in the same year, from more than one award of scholarship and from loans to cover the same item of expenditure. That universities publish verifiable and approved costs of tuition and other charges; That each student has a university identity card; Continuation of scholarships and loans will depend on continued good academic standing.; ·That students take the first step to apply for these scholarships and loans; · Each Registrar’s Office will have a unit clarifying applications yearly on the basis of good academic standing. It is sad indeed that the resolution of the Registrars of 1996, which are still valid today, has not been acted upon by the Federal Government. 

Scholarships: Scholarship constitutes a form of financial aid in the funding of education. In other countries, scholarship are given to students for different reasons including (a) Merit-based scholarship; (b) Need-based scholarship; (c) Student – specific scholarship, (d) Career – specific scholarship, (e) College – specific scholarship. In ABUAD, we have scholarships for: (a) outstanding brilliance, (b) Merit scholarship, (c) students who demonstrate leadership qualities, (d) outstanding sports men and women, and (e) indigent students. The award of scholarship should not be restricted to government alone. It should be extended to philanthropic and patriotic Nigerians, private and public companies, multi-national companies, charity organisations, Foundations, NGOs, clubs such as the Rotary International and the Lions Club, professional bodies like NUJ, NBA, ICAN, COREN etc.

Endowment fund: History tells us that the early universities were founded and funded by scholars and wealthy people or groups of people and generally by people who are interested in learning. Nigerian universities appear not to appreciate the importance of endowment. A classic example of the university that utilises endowment to the fullest is Harvard University. The Harvard’s Endowment Fund is indeed a success story worthy of being told over and over. The Harvard University Endowment as at year 2013 was $32.7billion which at exchange rate of N170 to $1 then amounted to N5,559,000,000,000. It remains the largest source of revenue to support the university budget which in year 2012/2013 amounted to $7,130,137,243 which at exchange rate of N170 to $1 amounted to N1,200,000,000,000.

In the year 2012, 48 per cent of Harvard undergraduates received scholarship grant averaging $18,700 each, while 17 per cent of undergraduates received some form of financial aid totalling more than $81million. This means that all students at Harvard University are on financial aid because the actual cost of Harvard Education exceeds the cost of tuition by approximately $10,000 per student.

Strikes: Strikes have become a common phenomenon in public universities. There are several unions operating within the university system such as Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU; Non Academic Staff Union, NASU; Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU; and National Academic Association of Technology, NAAT, etc. In the past decades and beyond, most, if not all, of these unions have embarked upon various strike actions to press home one demand or the other.

Every strike action embarked upon has had devastating effects on university education in Nigeria. Many public universities have been forced to cancel entire academic sessions. Most, if not all public universities, have suffered a drop in standard owing to incessant strike actions. Most of these strike actions have been blamed on the insensitivity of government to the plight of universities and education in general with regards to lack of adequate funding.

Most universities have been rightly said to lack modern tools necessary for impartation of knowledge as most still rely on dilapidated structures and equipment put in place several decades ago, some dating as far back as the establishment of the universities themselves. Students and staff suffer the same state of poor accommodation and facilities.

I agree that these are legitimate matters which should be of concern to anybody with an interest in the educational sector of the country. However, I do not believe that strike actions offer the best solution available in all cases. I have stated it elsewhere that government alone cannot fund education. I have earlier highlighted the roles which vice chancellors can play in diversifying the sources of funding available to the universities. Therefore, if vice chancellors tread the paths which I have highlighted, they would by so doing reduce the probability of strike actions occurring in their institutions.

I am also aware that some vice chancellors tacitly encourage strike actions by their staff in the belief that such actions will ultimately make the government provide funding to their universities. Such vice chancellors publicly condemn the strike actions whilst in private they encourage union leaders to continue with the strike.

It is said that fear of security of tenure encourages some to adopt this behaviour as they fear that government may have them removed if they either appear to support the strike actions publicly or if they personally make demands from governments for increased funding of their universities. This again reiterates the need for autonomy of universities. A vice chancellor who is appointed by members of the university community with little or no input from the government will entertain no such fear of security of tenure and will be better positioned to fight the cause of the university.

To be concluded….

•Please send your comments and suggestions to my email: [email protected].