Students of the Kaduna State College of Education have cried to the state government over the horrible state of infrastructure, high tuition and inadequacy of lecturers in the school.
Lamenting the ordeal of the students of the college, the President of the Students' Union, Gidan Waya Chapter, Danladi Louis Ninyio, in a letter to the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, which was made available to SaharaReporters, said the institution has no good access Roads.
The students' union leader said many students of the college are on the verge of dropping out as they are finding it extremely difficult to keep up with paying the exorbitant tuition fees of the school while also struggling with the high house rent charged by landlords in the area.
According to him, the high tuition fees coupled with rent are two factors that have succeeded in sending students of the institution back home while the newly admitted students can't even come for registration.
Ninyio maintained that it is unfair for the state government to abandon the college in such a manner despite having the largest community of students in Southern Kaduna and being the highest source of revenue generation for the government in the region.
The student union president said, “It is with great displeasure that I write this to draw the attention of the Kaduna State Government, necessary stakeholders, NGOs/INGOs and Alumni to the sorry state of the dilapidated infrastructure of the Kaduna State College of Education.
“It is worthy to note that the college is the largest community of students in Southern Kaduna. However, we won't be wrong to say it happens to be the most underdeveloped institution despite being the highest source of revenue generation for the government in the region."
"Despite the outrageous amount paid by students as tuition fees compared to other institutions, the sorry state of the institution” is obvious with the lack of good access road to the school environment, he said.
He noted that the abandoned hostels and road projects were awarded over ten years ago “but the projects have not gone beyond this point since then.”
Ninyio pointed out that “the hostel is one area that needs urgent attention due to the skyrocketing rent by landlords, making it very difficult for students who could barely afford to pay their tuition fees to raise money for their rent.
“This is not farfetched from the fact that most of the students are the ones sponsoring themselves in school while the parents of a huge number of the students are peasant farmers who manage to sell their farm produce to send their wards to school despite the high amount they have to pay for tuition fees coupled with the rent.
“The high tuition fees coupled with rent are two factors that have succeeded in sending students of the institution back home while the newly admitted students can't even come for registration."
He noted that the former South African President and hero, Nelson Mandela once said that "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."
Also reminding the state government of the need for urgent action on the college and the need to give priority to education in the state, Ninyio quoted Malala Yousafzai, saying, "With guns you can kill a terrorist, with education you can kill terrorism."
According to him, “If the assertions of these individuals are anything to go by, then the actions and inactions of the government and other relevant bodies are a ticking time bomb capable of not only posing threat to the region alone but to humanity at large.”
He, therefore, lamented that inadequate lecture theatres, laboratories, ICT facilities and equipment and study materials in the libraries cannot be over-emphasised as the ones available are either not functioning or outdated.
“The Union is hereby calling on the state government, stakeholders, noble sons and daughters of the state and especially of Southern Kaduna, NGOs and INGOs to come to the rescue of the institution and its students,” he added.
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