Yusuf Oketola
Students of Osun State College of Technology, Esa-Oke, have kicked against the 40 per cent increment in their tuition fee by the management of the institution, describing it as a wicked development amidst economic meltdown in the country.
The students who took to Twitter and other social media platforms to express their dissatisfaction over the increment, appealed to the state government and the management to take swift action in reviewing the increment.
The school management had in a memo dated October 21, 2022, notified the students about the increment.
According to the memo, the tuition fee of National Diploma One (ND I) students has been increased from N61,000 to N88,500 and N81,000 for science and non-science respectively.
Also, tuition fee of those in Higher National Diploma (HND 1) has been increased from N60,000 to N103,000, including tax clearance.
Some of the students who spoke with OSUN DEFENDER under the condition of anonymity lamented the increment, stating that it is outrageous.
“The fee increment is too much! Are we to be blamed? We are struggling and you are not providing enough for us to see us through the hard times. Rather, you want to increase the school fee. Our parents hardly eat to send us to school.
“We are struggling. We are saying no to school fee increment”, the students declared.
The school management had in a meeting with the students’ union leadership on Monday, claimed that all the state owned tertiary institutions have also increased their various tuition fees, saying the increment is not peculiar to OSCOTECH.
But the Student Union Government in a press statement, stated that the union was not aware of the increment, warning students to abstain from making any payments until the increment issue is resolved.
