The management of the University of Jos (UNIJOS) has announced its approval of instalment payment and a further reduction of fees after a meeting with students’s leaders following the recent controversies that trailed the institution’s fee hike.
Usman Barambu, the president of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) had on Thursday, September 14, 2023 told BusinessDay that the students’ body would be moving to UNIJOS after a successful deliberation with the authorities of the University of Lagos which led to fees reduction recently.
According to a statement from the university management, “This is to inform students of the University of Jos, parents and members of the public that the university administration has approved a further revision in the school charges structure payable by undergraduate students of the institution from the 2022/2023 academic session.
The university administration approved a reduction in the charges following a meeting with the expanded SUG executives of the university.
“In view of its commitment to carry all stakeholders along following the University’s earlier decision to review its school charges structure, the University administration has made additional concessions in response to its engagement with the Students representatives.
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“Some of the key decisions resulting from the interaction between the University administration and the students’ representatives include the following:
“The main charges for returning students who are not offering GST courses have been reduced from N150,000 to N95,000, while N100,000 will be paid by returning students offering GST courses.
“Fresh students will now pay N130,000, down from the initial charge of N180,000. Laboratory/studio/workshop charges are now set at N25, 000 for students who exclusively use these facilities down from N30,000.
“The university administration has also approved for instalment payments to be introduced as follows: All returning students not using laboratory/studio/workshop facilities and not offering GST courses are to pay N95,000 as the 1st instalment and N10,000 as the second instalment.
“All returning students not using laboratory/studio/workshop facilities but who offer GST courses are to pay N100,000 as the first instalment and N10,000.00 as the 2nd instalment.
“All returning students without GST courses but who use laboratory/studio/workshop facilities are to pay N95,000 as the first instalment and N35,000.00 as the second instalment.
All returning students who use laboratory/studio/workshop facilities and offer GST courses are to pay N100,000.00 as the first instalment and N35,000 as the second instalment.”
The university announced that two percent of the amount payable by all students would be dedicated to assisting indigent students, with 50 percent being channelled towards providing scholarships for indigent students and the other 50 percent to be utilised for the expansion of its work-study programme, a development that was said to have elicited the admiration of students, parents and staff.
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The students had earlier blocked roads leading to the campus in protest, following an increase in school fees and other services rendered by the institution.
The student protesters in a recorded video were mobilised by leaders of the students’ union government of the institution.
While calling for an urgent reversal of the hike in school fees and other services rendered by the institution, the students had said Nigerians were already going through a lot of hardship, hence the need for the authorities not to complicate the already bad situation with further fee increments.
In the fore of the recent development, Tanko Ishaya, vice-chancellor of UNIJOS explained that the institution decided to ameliorate students’ welfare by cutting down on the fees.
“Students of non-science courses will now be paying N105,000. While the science students will be paying N135,000 and N140,000 for laboratories.
So in all, returning students will be paying N140,000; in fact, some are now to pay N135,000 in total, that is those that are laboratory-based. Those that are not laboratory-based are paying less.
It is important that the information gets out there because of some negative media reportage,” he explained.
The UNIJOS authorities therefore advised all students and parents to take note of the revised charges and adhere to the new payment and registration guidelines, adding that first semester lectures for the 2022/2023 academic session have since commenced.
