Rivers science/tech varsity admits 3,817 fresh students

Rivers State University of Science and Technology (UST), Nkpolu, Port Harcourt, Wednesday, matriculated 3,817 students for its 2012/2013 academic session.

This is as the institution awarded a laptop to each of the seven best graduating students.

The university has also rolled out financial alleviation packages including ban on all sorts of levies and sale of unapproved books.

The matriculated students were drawn from seven faculties of the institution including Agriculture (132), Engineering (1,121), Environmental Sciences (240), Law (195), Management Sciences (853), Sciences (674) and Tech & Science Education (602).

In his address, the vice chancellor of the institution, Barineme Beke Fakae, told the students, “This is an era when the selection procedure for admission into this university has become more rigorous than ever”.

He said the era of quota system admission and the time when traders bought admissions and sat for exams through proxy were over.

The professor admonished them on the need to work assiduously and diligently if they must achieve their aim of being in the institution.

“By your admission into this institution of high repute such as ours, you must have opted to work hard and therefore must endeavour not to play away your time in unproductive ventures”.

He said that in order to encourage the students to fully concentrate on their studies without undue financial burden/pressure, the Senate of the university has banned forceful and exorbitant sale of unapproved textbooks, all kinds of unauthorised levies, extortions, buying and selling of handouts in the university.

Rather, the VC intimated them on the existence of ‘rich library’, saying, “Inculcate the habit of using the library, and ensure that you attend lectures all the time as absenteeism may result to failure and consequently lead to withdrawal for failure (WAF)”. He talked about time management as a need in the new UST.

He disclosed that the Senate of the university has enacted a new policy for the practice of student unionism specifically that only those with a minimum of Second Class Upper Division cumulative aggregate (i.e. 3.5) can be part of Student Union leadership and that such leadership position should not be held in the student’s final year of study.