The National Universities Commission has declared that plans are being concluded to announce the establishment of two new universities next week, adding that more universities will be established in the country to increase access to tertiary education.
It said while almost two million seek admission into universities, between 500,000 and 700,000 get admitted.
During an interaction with newsmen in Abuja on Thursday, NUC’s acting Executive Secretary, Chris Maiyaki, noted that the approval of the two new universities in the coming week will increase the number of universities in the country to 272.
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Mayaki said: “We have no choice but to, as a matter of deliberate policy, undertake the massification of universities.
“You need to see the anguish and frustration on the faces of families who are desperate to make sure that their children attend university education every admission session.
“It is very tough and challenging for university leaders and NUC and so we have no choice but to continue to approve the universities.
“The approval for two more varsities to bring the number of universities in the country to 272 has been concluded and will be announced next week.”
Highlighting what separates the developed world today from other countries is the level of investments in education, Miyaki maintained that Nigeria will continue to widen universities’ access by approving more universities to meet its demands and supply of quality education.
He stressed that countries like Brazil, Indonesia and others who have a population not up to Nigeria have more than 1,000 universities, revealing that efforts were ongoing to reposition the university system through transnational education by allowing foreign universities to come in and operate in the country.
The Executive Secretary said the commission is presently processing applications for the establishment of distance learning centres that will be monitored to provide quality education.
However, Miyaki emphasised that it does not mean the era of establishing distance learning centres is back.
Debunking a statement by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission inviting proprietors of private universities and other institutions of higher learning in Nigeria to charge fees in dollars, Miyaki said no tertiary institution is allowed to charge tuition fees in dollars.
He said the commission had made an inquiry and conducted further investigation into the allegation and discovered that the said private university was not charging fees in dollars.
He said: “On the dollarisation of tuition fees in this said university, we have investigated it and the university is not charging fees in dollars.
“They only charge dollars to foreign students.
“So I want the media to join hands with us to tell the public that no Nigerian university is allowed to charge fees in dollars.”
