On Tuesday, hundreds of Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, students protested the purported school administration’s no fees, no exam policy by taking to the streets.
They were singing and demanding that the university reverse its decision, the students marched out of the Mile 3 neighborhood campus.
As the majority of those impacted expressed grief over the outcome, it was learned that some students, particularly those in their last year who were unable to pay the 2021/2022 school fees, were not prevented from sitting for their exams on Monday.
The final-year students who were impacted by the institution’s decision voiced concern that doing so would force them to stay another year and incur additional tuition costs.
To voice their complaints, the students marched from the Mile 3 neighborhood to Ikwerre Road and finished at the Government House on Azikiwe Road in Port Harcourt.
Monmon Precious, one of them and the president of the National Union of Rivers State Students, said that the economy, not them, was to blame for the payment delay. The student asked the school administration to change its mind about its position.
Today, students demonstrated against the foreign policy of “no school fees, no exams.”
“It is not deliberate for us not to pay our tuition fees, the economy is very difficult. If it is difficult for government to fund projects, certainly, the students will also have challenges in paying school fees.
“Our bursaries (stipend) has been withheld, no more scholarship in Rivers State. All we want is the old policy that allows students to take their exams and maybe their results would be withheld during clearance until they make all the payments,” he said.
On his part, a student leader identified as Koki Gbenga, said since the ‘no fees, no exam policy’ started, he had been receiving regular text messages from his colleagues who threatened to kill themselves.
Gbenga said, “I receive daily messages from fellow students who threaten to kill themselves because of the economic situation in the country and in the state.
They (management) should consider us and allow us to study and write exams. If students are forced out of school at this critical moment, they may cause mayhem to themselves and the society.”
Similarly, an undergraduate simply identified as Andrew lamented that the flood had ravaged so many communities where the students came from and called on the authorities to consider their plights.
The Spokesman for the university, Emeka Egbechu, said it was an internal matter, saying calm had returned to the school.
Egbechu added, “I will not speak much on it until I hear from the Vice Chancellor. All I can tell you now is that there is no cause for alarm. It is an internal matter, and there is calm on our campus as we speak. When I get clarification to speak, I’ll let you know.”