The House of Representatives ask the Federal Government to set up 15bn COVID-19 emergency funds for tertiary institutions and universities in response to the impact of the infection on academic, research and administrative operations.
The House made this proposal as part of its agreement at plenary on Tuesday and in response to a motion moved by Honourable Steve Azaiki over the suspension of academic activities due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
According to Azaiki, the mode of operations of the tertiary institutions will never be the same especially in the absence of a effective vaccine for COVID-19 as well as mass testing.
He further stated that universities and tertiary institutions will experience at least 15% reduction in enrollment, as many students will postpone their enrollment in the new session.
He also noted that some parents and guardians who may have lost their jobs due to the pandemic may not be able to afford the tuition fee for their children to continue going to school which will make higher education very expensive.
He also raised an opinion about the need to ensure the provision of students support scheme (COVID-19 Students Emergency Grant) for those affected physically, mentally and economically by the impact of the pandemic especially the vulnerable students’ groups e.g people living with disability, students with trauma or mental health issue, refugees or displaced people with the tertiary education system.
He made reference to the United States, saying that the government provided the sum of $14.3b for higher education, with $12.4b split between emergency grant to studen and money to colleges for coronavirus related expenses and interruption of campus operations. As $300Billion will be give to the colleges that are mostly affected by the impact of the pandemic, while $1Billion goes to the historically black colleges and universities.
After the beautifully brought forward motion by Azaiki and the concurrent of other members of the House, the House resolved in urging the federal government to set up a strategic 15Billion Naira for Coronavirus Emergency Funds for Nigerians Tertiary Institutions and Universities.
The House also urged the Universities to launch a Coronavirus Student Emergency Fund where students can apply for the emergency grant to assist them in recovering from the economic impact of Coronavirus.
It also urged the federal government to immediately establish an Infectious Disease Research Institute in six selected universities in the six geopolitical zones of the country.
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