Blessing Nkiruka
Students of Rivers State University have decried the institution’s policy of ‘No fees No Examination that has left many of them stranded preventing them from sitting exams.
It was gathered that the university leadership on October 10, 2022, approved the implementation of a “no fees no examination policy”.
The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Nlerum Okogbule, had said at a news briefing in Port Harcourt that while it was a difficult decision to arrive at, the policy was already yielding positive fruits to the delight of the management.
“It is necessary to mention here that the policy of no school fees, no examination has paid off handsomely. We were in a very sad situation where some students who are in level 300 had not paid fees at all, and so did not have matriculation numbers,” he had said.
The policy was implemented to ensure that students adhere to the university’s rules concerning the payment of fees.
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However, nine months later, indigent students have been heavily hit by the declaration.
One student, Miss Christiana Sylvanus, a 300-level scholar in the Department of Mass Communication, expressed that she was surprised when she was unable to write her examinations later that month.
She had been asked to vacate the examination premises, eventually missing the papers.
She said, “On getting to my usual examination hall which we are allowed to sit down in, as long as we’re only three on a seat, I saw my course mates outside and my examination and record officer calling the names of some students from a printed sheet of paper directly from the school’s ITC (which was the students who had paid their fees).
“I stood at the examination hall for a long time thinking I and the others would be allowed to write eventually but to my greatest surprise we were left outside and eventually told to leave the examination premises in order to not disturb those who sat for the examination. “
Although the implementation of this policy was seen to be of great help to the Academic Institution, it comes as a detriment to wards who are unable to foot their school fees before the fixed examination date.
A good number of students were affected by this.
Another student, Burabari Korgbara, a 200-level scholar of English and literary studies, shared her experience in the last academic session examination as a result of the implementation of the no fees no exam policy.
She said, “The policy implementation came as a shock to me, I was unable to write my examination,” she said.
However, Korgbara shared that a supplementary examination was scheduled for people who were eventually able to pay their fees.
Sometimes in October last year, students of the university led a protest.
The students, who protested from the University’s main entrance to the Rivers State Government House in Port Harcourt, expressed displeasure over the management’s decision.
Students demanded to be allowed to write their final exams to avoid being made to spend an “extra year” in the University.
They appealed to the school management to allow them to make payments in instalments.
A Deputy Commissioner of Police, who addressed the protesting students, assured that the school management would respond to their demands.
The school management made provision for instalment payment which would commence during the beginning of the next academic session and also scheduled a supplementary examination for those who missed their examinations on their respective dates.
The school had also scheduled a supplementary examination as a result of students missing their papers.
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