Protests have broken out at the University of Calabar (UNICAL) over a hundred percent increase in the university’s tuition fees for undergraduates.
The students gathered at the Malabor Square which houses the Students Union Government secretariat and from there moved to the female hostels bearing placards.
Some of the placards with various inscriptions read: “Florence Obia, UNICAL is not a private university, which one is ‘slight increment’, say no to billing”, “UNICAL VC, stop forcing girls into prostitution”, centre“this is a federal university, not a business center,” among others.
News men reported that the management of UNICAL announced an increase in the university’s tuition fees for undergraduates by over 100 percent.
The announcement, made in a statement made available to newsmen in Calabar on Monday, said the upward review of the fees was taken at an emergency meeting of the university’s Senate on Friday.
Reports stated that with the increment, freshers, returning students and final-year students for the non-science courses are expected to pay N111,000, N91,500 and N114,000, respectively.
In addition, they are also to pay N36,500, N21,500 and N21,500, respectively, as third-party dues.
Similarly, fees for science courses were increased to N155,000, N125,000 and N148,000, respectively for freshers, returning students and final-year students.
Read Also: Guinea-Bissau dissolves parliament after coup attempt
In a likewise manner, they are also to pay N38,500, N21,500 and N21,500, respectively as third-party dues.
Before the increment, tuition fees for an average student, depending on the department, was N64,050 for freshers, N52,050 for the final year and N49,500 for returning students.
The management noted that the increment was necessitated by the current economic realities and the need to maintain the academic standard which the university was known for.
