…moves to cushion effect of fuel subsidy removal on staff, students
The Vice Chancellor of Bayero University Kano (BUK), Prof. Sagir Adamu-Abbas, has said the high cost of running the institution especially provision of electricity which he estimated to be about N75 million monthly, was the main reason behind the recent hike in it’s registration fees.
The VC explained that the bill for electricity was about N35 million monthly, while the bill for purchase of diesel for generators was about N40 million.
Adamu-Abbas who spoke at the weekend in Kano, when he received delegation of the Education Correspondents Association of Nigeria (ECAN) led by the chairman of the Association, Mr Chuks Ukwuatu, noted that management of BUK was forced to increase the registration fees because it was practically impossible to provide social services to a student population of about 45,000, including postgraduate as.well as teaching and non-teaching staff population of over 5,000.
He, however, said the increment was done in full consultation with staff unions including members of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) among others and students.
The VC also revealed that the university authority has introduced various welfare packages to cushion not only the impact of it’s recent registration fees hike, but the effect of the fuel subsidy removal on staff such as non-interest loans from Microfinance banks payable within six months.
He said: “Other incentives introduced to cushion the effect of the increase in fuel price that has caused the high price of commodities, were provision foodstuffs, shuttle buses, bicycle loans for junior staff payable within nine months at a cheaper rate.”
He also disclosed that the university equally introduced a kind of job scheme for students, whereby they were engaged to render some services to the university and they were paying N15,000 monthly.
“This does not affect their normal learning because it does not take much of their time as some were to clean some surroundings or render certain minus service within the university and got paid at the end of the month.”
He disclosed.hat at the initial stage when the scheme was introduced over 2,000 students applied but only 120 got the offer. However, there are moves to increase the number to 150 during the new recruitment that would be done immediately after the students resume on the campus.
Expressing concerns on the high level of graduate unemployment in Nigeria and unemployable graduates, Adamu-Abbas further revealed that the University has redesigned its 30 per cent of the new Core Academic Minimum Academic Standards (CCMAS) for Nigerian universities to boost skill acquisition of students and employability of graduates.
He added that apart from establishing Skill Acquisition Centre within the Students Welfare department where students go to learn trade of their choices, experts were also hired from outside Centre to train students on specific entrepreneurial skills not provided at the Centre.
“Nigerian universities not just BUK, have to redesign their curriculum. But I believe, you know that NUC has already commenced that and we have already keyed-in and we have already submitted our 30% curriculum review to NUC.
“We factored industry and professional body in designing the 30% curriculum. That was what we did and submitted to NUC. When students graduate, they can easily fit into the industries or they can create something on their own.”
Recall that NUC, while launching the new curriculum recently announced that the Commission only developed 70 per cent of the CCMAS leaving 30 per cent for each university to develop in line with the peculiarities.
