Federal Ministry of Education on Wednesday denied that the federal government planned to increase tuition fees in Nigerian universities to N350,000.

South West zone of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) made the allegation on Tuesday.

Mr Sonny Echono, permanent secretary in the education ministry, gave the government’s stance at a symposium in Abuja.

Echono said the federal government was not planning to increase tuition fees. He also urged Nigerians to remain calm on the issue.

“The federal government did not and has no intention of introducing new tuition fees in our public universities not to mention the figure to N350,000,” he said.

“What is true is that the present administration is committed to guaranteeing quality of education.

“President Muhammadu Buhari has directed ministry of education along with ministry of finance to jointly organise a workshop that will inform on a very sustainable and workable recommendation of funding education in Nigeria.

“And to this end, we have been engaging various stakeholders including ASUU who can come up with a very useful contribution that will bring all these recommendations achievable. Echono added that the ministry was working toward re-establishing the education bank to address the role of education funding ”as the government cannot do it alone.”

He said the role of the education bank would be to give loan at a low-interest rate, saying this would not be limited to students alone but also parents.

On the right to education, Echono said every child has the fundamental right to quality education, adding that the ministry had developed strategies to ensure pupils and students with special needs were carried along.

PT