Parents reject ‘outrageous’ fees demanded by Nigerian university
Some parents of students of Caleb University located in Imota, Lagos, have rejected fees charged by the institution amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
Over 100 of the parents have written several complaint letters to the school management to draw their attention to the irregularities going on in the school, a representative said.
Olaoluwa Ogundemi, a parent to a 100 level Accounting student at the university, told PREMIUM TIMES that the school mandated parents to make full payment for the session, despite that the school moved from physical learning to e-learning as a result of the pandemic.
"This issue started in March, some of us live abroad and we have been trying to get a hold of the school after they said they would start online lectures.
"Not only did they charge full school fees, but they also charged services which were not provided such as accommodation, internet, library, hospital, and others."
In a letter sent to Caleb University by some concerned parents, issues pertaining to the welfare of students and rights of the parents were highlighted.
The letter, signed by 121 parents, was obtained by PREMIUM TIMES and the following concerns were raised:
- Demand for payment of full tuition fees during the COVID-19 pandemic. - Payment for hostel accommodation and other services that were not being provided as a result of COVID-19. - Commencement of learning through an "ineffective and abysmal online learning portal without due consideration of the internet network connectivity, bandwidth capacity, and more importantly the cost of data for already financially subdued parents." - Migration of students to the online platform without conversations with parents and guardians. - The university making decisions on a "Parent Forum" which comprises less than 7% (250 out of over 40 parent's population) of the University. - Charging parents and guardians N20,000 per session for a parent forum which 90 percent of the parents are not part of it.
Mr Ogundemi said when he contacted the Vice-Chancellor, Nosa Owens-Ibie, on the issues and how parents can be added to the Parents' Forum on Whatsapp, the school claimed the group was full as WhatsApp can only take about 250 participants
"The school has over 4,000 students, that there are about 4,000 parents. If the school is claiming the group is full and they can no longer admit parents, which means less than 10 percent of parents are on the platform, part of which are staff who have children there."
Several parents interviewed by PREMIUM TIMES explained how the school came up with the fees without any consultation with the parents whatsoever.
Femi Ojikutu, a guardian of a student at the University said the school failed to carry parents along on decisions made about the students and "imposed decisions made by a fraction of parents on the larger parents."
Mr Ojikutu added that the school has no official channel of communicating developments directly to parents, but rather through the students.
Emmanuel Aderemi, a parent of a 200 level student at the university, told PREMIUM TIMES that the school denied students access to the online learning platform except they pay N200,000 upfront.
Mr Aderemi said this was without consideration to the economic hardship many parents are experiencing as a result of COVID-19.
"We even pleaded with the management to allow students have access to learning pending the time parents will make payment. They can even withhold exam results of students who failed to pay afterward, but they should allow all students have access to learning and not miss out."
Mr Aderemi added that the school made online prayer/fellowship compulsory during the lockdown, despite that students were in their respective homes and should be free to practice the religion of their parents.
This photo and article were originally published by The Premium Times.