LASU Stream-Two Programme: We Did Not Increase Tuition Fees – VC

LASU Vice Chancellor, Prof. Olanrewaju Fagbohun SAN

By LOVETH AZODO, Lagos

Following the misconceptions about its recently introduced entrepreneurship programme, the Vice Chancellor, Lagos State University, Prof. Olanrewaju Fagbohun SAN has stated that the Lagos State Government has neither increased the school fees of the university’s regular undergraduate program nor compel any student to pay additional fees as speculated by some members of the public.

Faghohun who stated this while speaking to Newsmen Thursday in Lagos on the Two streams of admission done this year for its undergraduate program maintained that for the stream one which is the normal regular undergraduate program, the tuition fee remains N25,000.

The Stream-two which tuition fee is N150,000, he said was introduced to help deepen entrepreneurship skill of students of the institution and other students that desire to deepen their entrepreneurship skills.

“We are doing this so that when they go out they are not going as someone to be employed but as someone who will employ themselves and others, this programme is just like an undergraduate doing his or her degree programme and ICAN simultaneously” the VC said.

The VC stressed that the stream two program is voluntary for LASU students “no student is under any compulsion to register for the stream two programme” he said

He opined that the entrepreneurship programme would run along with normal undergraduate degrees.

According to him, research indicates that small medium enterprises employ more than 80 per cent of the workforce in Nigeria.

“That is why we have very close working relationship with SMEs, so they can impact on the university and impact right entrepreneurship skills to the students.

On disparity he noted “Critical thing for LASU is quality assurance which means the two-stream programmes will be standard and run successfully together without any programme failing.

“We have a directorate of quality assurance that monitors every programme of the university in order to achieve best practices,” he assured.

On the advantages of the stream two, he explained that the entrepreneurship courses would be taught only during the first year of the regular Stream 1 programme, while it would be taught throughout the duration of the Stream two programme adding that the students will graduate with two certificates after their degree programme.

Speaking on the selection of partners, he said “here at the Lagos State University we believe more on co-creation of technology we don’t believe that transfer of technology is what will aid Nigeria because when you develop your technology out there you are not developing your technology in the context of the your country, if we are going to develop technology here we are going to develop it in the context of our own environment.”

Also Speaking, Prof. Martins Anetekhan, Director, Centre for Entrepreneur, LASU stated “the tuition fees is understandable because the university does it with partners, small scale entrepreneurs, industries and so on, the students actually go there acquire the skills and then the university awards the certificate, these partners we must pay them for the service rendered and use of their facilities and this is how it goes.”

“For the time of lecturing, that shouldn’t be an issue at all, the degree is own by the department, the students go to the department to take their normal departmental courses, it is only the ENT that is the Entrepreneurship that is additional”.

“We have about 79 different areas where the students can develop skills, for teaching it has been arranged in such a way that it doesn’t clash with the normal degree programme and in addition to that we don’t overload the classes,” Anetekhan stated.