Will the nation afford to sacrifice the 6,000 students?
As time ticks away, more than 6, 000 students studying at the Solomon Islands National University (SINU) this year face an uncertain future over outstanding tuition fees.
SINU has nominated Monday 31st May as the cut-off date for all students to clear their outstanding fees. They would be barred from sitting the first Semester’s exams this year.
But a new Memo from SINU Senior Management on the matter has sent a mixed message to students with outstanding fees. [See separate story on the SINU Memo]
SINU has also revised downward the amount of unpaid tuition fees. According to the new Memo, students owed SINU $110 million in unpaid tuition fees. This excludes the outstanding fees of students who have already graduated, according to SINU.
Total enrolment in the University’s five Faculties this year is 8,283 students, according to the new Memo dated 27th May. It was issued by SINU’s Senior Management.
Of this number, only 1, 783 students have paid up their First Semester fees, according to the Memo, which Solomon Star has obtained.
The majority of students – some 6, 500 students – have outstanding fees, the Memo said.
“It is my understanding that most of these students were promised sponsorships under Constituency funding. Unfortunately, their Members of Parliament have not honored their pledges,” the head of a student body interim committee, Slade Abae, told Solomon Star yesterday.
Mr. Abae appealed to the government and the SINU Management to find a way out of the dilemma being faced by the students.
“These students are the future pillars of nation-building for this country. Their parents have worked hard over the years to get them to where they are. Do we have the right to disregard their sacrifice? Mr. Abae asked.
“As a nation, we cannot afford to sacrifice them,” he said.
“This is a sad state of affairs,” Mr. Abae who is also a SINU student this year, said. A former Provincial Member of the Malaita Provincial Government, Mr. Abae is studying Construction Management at SINU this year.
Mr. Abae said his interim committee has written to the acting Vice Chancellor, Jack Maebuta, but attempts to follow up with the Office of the Vice Chancellor have not been successful.
“We will make the final bid on behalf of the students on Monday,” he said.
He said the students are simply asking the University to allow them to sit their exams.
“Sitting the exams is just so crucial, given all the efforts they have put into their studies since the beginning of this year,” Mr. Abae said.
“So all we are asking is, please allow the students to sit their exams. We can then sit down to discuss addressing the outstanding fees.
“The second thing we have asked the Vice Chancellor to do is to set a date for the election of students representatives,” he said.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development, Franco Rodie, said last week sponsorship was the real issue that SINU is facing this year.
It is understood the matter was discussed by Caucus, but the outcome of their discussions have not been disclosed.
Unpaid tuition fees this year is the biggest financial crisis SINU is facing since its inception in January 2013 following an Act of Parliament to set it up was passed in late 2012.
SINU has since established five Faculties – namely; Faculty of Business & Tourism Studies, Faculty of Science & Technology, Faculty of Nursing, Medicine & Health Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Fisheries & Forestry and Faculty of Education & Humanities.
It has three campuses – Kukum, Ranadi and Panatina, which is the main campus of the eight-year-old university.
By ALFRED SASAKO
Newsroom, Honiara
