By Mabinty Magdalene Kamara
A good numberof students of the Institute of Public Administration and Management (IPAM)have gone on the rampage after being sent out of examination halls.
Munda Rogers, the public relations officer of the University of Sierra Leone, told POLITICO that the students’ rejection from taking the examinationyesterday was because they failed to comply with the university regulation which registration is a part of.
“It is only when you are registered that you can have access to facilities like taking lectures, continuous assessment and the semester examinations in the university. But we realized at the commencement of the examinations that a good number of students did not register and that means they didn’t pay their fees even after the two weeks’ ultimatum that was given to them,” he said.
Some students at IPAM told POLITICO that the delay to pay their fees was not a deliberate act but it was a direct result of the current economic situation in the country.
“Some of us our parents are unemployed.Some are subsistence farmers whiles others are petty traders who cannot afford to raise a huge sum of money at a go. But we want to plead with the University authorities to give us some time,” said a cluster of students outside the exams halls.
Over the years fees issue has been a thorny issue between the university authorities and the students but the situation does not seem to be improving. Last semester, at Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone, a new method was adopted by the university authorities to get students to pay their fees. Scripts of unregistered students were stamped for easy identification. And at the end of the examination, those scripts were not marked hence no grade was published for them. But this semester, the university has adopted a new method by not allowing them to take the examination.
Mr. Rogers said that even though the method was successful, as they got students to pay after the examinations, he added that that was not how it should be because there was an agreement between the university and the students at the initial period of admission which either party should comply with. And that is they should pay for services being rendered to them, he said.
“In fact it is a criminal offence because they have cheated the university by attending lectures and taking continuous assessments without following due procedures, which include registration,” he said.
Hassan Yansanneh, a third year student of IPAM said he preferredthe authorities withhold their grades and certificates to stopping them from taking the examination.
“Depriving us from taking the examination is very dangerous because when do we have that opportunity again of taking the examinations even after paying our fees?For me,today’s action has completely killed my spirit for studying for the other modules because I don’t have the hope of taking the examination since I can’t afford to pay my fees now,” he lamented.
However,the university spokesman said that they could not continue to operate like that because they needed money to operate effectively, adding that they never wanted to get to the stage of seizing certificates.
“It is a two way flow. Students play their own parts whiles management also plays its own part. Where the students fail to play their parts, we cannot use the resources of those who have paid to give them the resources they need at the expense of the university,” said Rogers.
He concluded that the stance of the University to not allow unregistered students to take the examination was one that could not be reversed.
“That is why we have cautioned students who have been engaged in disrupting examination rooms, creating disorder on our campuses because of their noncompliance with the university, that at the end of the day if we catch them, the university rules will fall heavily on them.”
But the students said they would continue to plead to the university and all those concerned to allow them to take their examination because dropping out of course at that stage would have negative impacts on them and the country as a whole.
IPAM students alleged that the issue of driving students out of examination hall was only limited to their college and that it was not extended to FBC, a claim the spokesman said was not true, adding that their actions were in fact cut across all the constituent colleges of the University of Sierra Leone.
(C) Politico 31/05/16
