Some postgraduate students of the University of Abuja have described as outrageous, the money they were asked to pay for external defence of their Master of Science (M.Sc) dissertation.
The students, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Thursday, said that some M.Sc. International Relations students were asked to pay N150,000 for the defence.
Fatima Lawal, one of the affected postgraduate students, said she started the programme since 2009 and was called for her internal defence in 2015.
Lawal argued that such a fee should not be imposed on old students in the system.
She said that some of the old students who had completed their dissertation early in the year had paid the normal N40,000 fee, adding that it was unfair for the management to demand such a huge sum.
Another student, Essen Okoro, told NAN that it was a clear exploitation of students.
Okoro said that after spending so much on writing the dissertation and paying accumulated school fees, the new dissertation fee was outrageous.
Okoro said that having begun the programme in 2010, his total tuition yet to be paid amounted to N200,000.
He, however, said that even when the school was on strike for almost a year, the money was not deducted from the total tuition fee.
“It is unfair on the part of the school management to make postgraduate students suffer for its inadequacies because it was not our fault that they went on strike in the first place.
“They do things that prolong the programme and still make us pay for their own mistakes. How can I undergo an M.Sc programme for five years? Is it an undergraduate course?
“I am appealing to the National Universities Commission to look into this matter as a regulatory body because it is overwhelming us.”
Okoro said paying almost N400,000 to get an M.Sc certificate in one’s country was acceptable, adding that many students who could not afford the fees dropped out.
Oluwaseun Olubiyo, another postgraduate student, said the programme had yet to be properly organised, arguing that it was wrong to make old students from the same year pay different sums for dissertation defence.
Olubiyo said paying N150,000 for external defence was as good as buying the certificate.
She stated that if the old students were asked to pay what their course mates paid, it was understandable, but not imposing the new fee on old students.
Meanwhile, an official of the school who spoke on condition of anonimity alleged that it was the decision of the new vice-chancellor to increase the dissertation defence fees from N40,000 to N150,000, adding that even the school fees were also increased.
According to him, such a policy should be initiated with a clause for the old students running the programme to continue with what their mates had paid.
He said that the approach should have been to give a specific period of time for the students to complete their dissertation or be forced to pay the new fee.
“The students were caught unawares with the new fees because there was no notice given to that effect and the old students were not considered at all before the decision was taken.
“The students were not given the room at all to air their views on the matter and some of them that needed their certificates urgently had to pay that money but what of those who are not working.
“But I don’t think anything can be done because the vice chancellor took this decision and only he and the management can review it,” he said.
