UNICAL Students Protest Over Increase In Tuition Fees

Students of the University of Calabar(UNICAL) have taken to the streets to protest over the hike of tuition fees by over 100 per cent.

The management of the school had announced an increase in the university’s tuition fees for undergraduates by over 100 per cent.

A statement made available to newsmen in Calabar on Monday and signed by the institution’s spokesman, Mr Effiong Eyo, said the upward review of the fees was taken at an emergency meeting of the university’s Senate on Friday.

The release disclosed that the implementation of the upward review will take effect in the 2022–2023 and 2023–2024 academic sessions.

THE WHISTLER gathered that with the increment, freshmen, returning students, and final-year students for the non-science courses are expected to pay N111,000, N91,500, and N114,000, respectively.

In addition, they are also to pay N36,500, N21,500, and N21,500, respectively, as third-party dues.

Similarly, fees for science courses were increased to N155,000, N125,000, and N148,000, respectively, for freshmen, returning students, and final-year students.

Similarly, they are also to pay N38,500, N21,500, and N21,500, respectively, as third-party dues.

The management noted that the increment was necessitated by the current economic realities and the need to maintain the academic standard which, the university was known for.

THE WHISTLER gathered that the increment and tuition fees for an average student, depending on the department, were N64,050 for freshmen, N52,050 for final year students, and N49,500 for returning students.

The students, who embarked on a peaceful protest to register their dissatisfaction, barricaded the roads leading into the campus, thus preventing workers from coming in.

The students who carried inscription like “We came to school to study not to kill our parents”, “The Vice Chancellor of UNICAL went to school in her days, free of charge but today wants to kill students with crazy charges,” amongst others, stated that they will continue to protest until the institution reversed to status quo.

Meanwhile, there was heavy presence of police personnel around the protesters to ensure that the protest did not result in a breakdown of law and order on campus.