By Tabora Bojang
The Governing Council of the University of The Gambia has submitted a proposal to the authorities for an increment in tuition fees.
Council chairman, Mathew Ndure, said this proposal is necessary because UTG is facing fiscal predicament in the full execution of its strategic priorities and the Council has concluded that the most viable option is an increase in tuition and other fees.
Speaking at the UTG convocation in Faraba Sunday, Chairman Ndure argued: “Tuition fees have not increased since 2015 while the cost of operations has mounted significantly and because of the contending interests from all sectors on the national budget, shortfalls are being recorded in the government’s subvention to the UTG leading to gaps in our recurrent cost and resources for planned projects”.
He further lamented that internal efforts are made to generate income through research and consultancy projects, “but the systems driving them are all in their developmental stages and not yet lucrative.”
“We all know and must accept that high quality university education is not cheap anywhere in the world. We believe that citizens should be prepared to pay a fair share of the cost of quality higher education for their children and wards. Being no stranger to our social expenditure inclinations, the Governing Council is advocating a resetting of our priorities as a people. It should be a proud feeling of national duty to be part of the effort to make UTG match the best in academia globally”, the chairman argued.
