The Rector of the Federal Polytechnic Nekede Dr Michael Arimanwa over the weekend affirmed that, the institution remains the only Federal institution with the lowest service charges in Nigeria,when it comes to student’s fees.
This is even as he appealed to students to remain calm , saying there would be an understanding at the end of the day, as the Governing Council which is the apex policy making body has accepted to revisit the matter
The Rector made this disclosure over the weekend while addressing student leaders ,stakeholders and leadership of the institution during a meeting in Owerri.
He maintained that Federal Polytechnic Nekede remains the only Federal institution with the lowest service charges in Nigeria.
He added that institutions service charges or fees are paid according to peculiarities.
He further pointed out that Federal Polytechnic Nekede has no hidden charges like other sister institutions, noting that the recent slight increase in the school service charges was the decision of school Governing Council and not his.
According to him, ” Our Students don’t pay school fees, they pay only service charges. The Governing Council board of the School, after looking at the current economic realities, decided to increase little, the school service charges inorder to meet up with the current Economic realities and also sustained it’s quality services and responsibilities because most of the things we do in the institution is through Internally Generated Revenue, IGR. Before this new little increase, Federal Polytechnic Nekede is the least in Service charges in Nigeria, the fees of institutions in Nigeria are on internet, people can check it. We don’t have any hidden charges like other sister institutions.”
Arimanwa further pointed out that, all the old students of the institution are excluded from the slight increase in service charges, arguing that most of the people protesting against the slight increase are not even students of the institution.
He said, ” After due considerations, we removed the little increase in service charges from all the final year students, which means that OND 2 and HND 2 students are paying as low as 25,000. It is quite unfortunate that people who are protesting are not our students, our students after looking at the realities on ground, appeal to us to make 50% increase instead of 65% as proposed by the governing Council of the institution and we are looking into their humble appeal.”
The Rector however emphasised that his administration had deployed much facilities for things to be done online in the institution inorder to stop cash flow, stressing that the essence of the smart campus is to eliminate students – staff contact.
