Crisis Over UNICAL’s 100 Percent Increment Of Tuition Fees

By Akinwale Kasali

There is brewing crisis at the University of Calabar, UNICAL, Cross River State, following the announcement of a 100 per cent increase in the tuition fees for undergraduates of the Institution.

The Management of the Institution had on Monday through its spokesman, Effiong Eyo, said the upward review of the fees was taken at an emergency meeting of the university’s Senate on Friday.

The release disclosed that the implementation of the upward review will take effect in the 2022–2023 and 2023–2024 academic sessions.

The increment means that 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.

Likewise, they are also to pay N38,500, N21,500, and N21,500, respectively, as third-party dues.

Following this development, it was gathered that the Students Union Government, SUG, of the Institution are currently brainstorming on the next line of action, as they weren’t consulted by the Management before the sudden increments in the Tuition Fees which doesn’t augur well with the Students.

It would be recalled that Prior to the increment, tuition fees for an average student, depending on the department, were N64,050 for freshers, N52,050 for final-year students, and N49,500 for returning students.

The 100 Percent increment will no doubt have an adverse effect on the Students due to the present economic situation of the country.

The management noted that the increment was necessitated by the current economic realities and the need to maintain the academic standard the university is known for.