STUDENTS owe the Solomon Islands National University (SINU) nearly $123 million in unpaid tuition fees, the latest figures released by SINU earlier this week have shown.
The Solomon Star has obtained a copy of the list, which also shows details of students, their faculties as well as how much they owe in unpaid tuition fees.
The figures also include unpaid fees carried forward from the previous year, according to sources. Students’ ID cards have now been included in the list of outstanding payments, the sources said.
Some students owe as much as $46, 000 in unpaid fees, an accumulation of non-payment of fees two or more years.
SINU also provided a breakdown of its Schools and Faculties and how much each is owned in unpaid tuition fees.
The Faculty of Education and Humanity tops the list of unpaid tuition fees with $53, 557, 045 as of Monday this week, followed by the Faculty of Business and Tourism Studies at $25, 257, 462, according to the list.
The Faculty of Nursing, Medicine and Health Science is in third place in terms of what students owe. Students, according to the list, owe $20, 827, 032 in unpaid tuition fees to the Faculty as of Monday this week.
The others are:
- Faculty of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry is owed $9, 680, 247;
- Faculty of Science and Technology is owed $9, 426, 992;
- Distance Flexible Learning (DFL) is owed $2, 903,087; and
- University Preparatory College (UPC) is owed $1, 229, 954
All up, SINU is owed $122, 881, 819 in unpaid tuition fees. It is understood some of the outstanding payments were owed by Members of Parliament who never honored their commitments.
It is also understood students have been told that while some lecturers would be lenient in allowing students to attend classes and to submit assignments for markings, this may not be done across the board.
SINU is expected to decide shortly whether students with outstanding fees could be allowed to sit their final exams for the first semester.
By Alfred Sasako
Newsroom, Honiara
