By Osagie Otabor, Akure
Students of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) have appealed to the federal government and management of the institution to revert to the old tuition fees.
The students, who staged a peaceful protest, vowed not to end the protest until the management heeded their appeal.
They blocked the entrance gate with placards and prevented any entry or exit from the institution.
President of the FUTA Student Union Government, Comrade Olayemi Oluwasoromidayo, said the protest was the last option after several meetings with the management.
Oluwasoromidayi said the school’s management refused to yield to their demands, hence they decided to stage the protest.
He said tuition fee increments have become incessant in the institution.
Oluwasoromidayo stated that the management increased the tuition fees to over N200,000 naira for freshers and N130,000 for old students.
The school management responded to the protest by postponing the resumption date of new students for the 2023/2024 academic session as well as ordering the students to vacate campus within 24 hours.
It also put on hold the registration of returning students via the University portal and payment of fees by all returning students for the new academic session.
The spokesman for FUTA, Adegbenro Adebanjo, in a statement, said the proposed new fees were mainly for student-related services which are sourced from the economy.
The statement said the costs of such goods and services provided by the University for the students would certainly be impacted by the costs of goods and services in the economy.
The statement said: “To ensure the smooth running of the University, certain consumables and payments for municipal services such as electricity, water, hostel maintenance and cleaning and sundry other services are necessary and the costs of providing the services have shot up and the new charges are in response to this.
“Other costs that were adjusted as a result of economic reality include medical examination for all new students, Biometric ID cards and Tertiary Institutions Students Health Insurance Programme TISHIP administered by NHIS for students and final yearbook.
It is important to say that Tuition is free and no money is being charged as a tuition fee
“The Management reiterates that tuition remains free for all students and that it has an inbuilt mechanism within the system to look into and build consensus on matters affecting students including fees. And that mechanism is working on this matter and consensus will be achieved.”
