Students of MAPOLY Peacefully Protest Increased Acceptance Fees
The students of the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY), Abeokuta, have staged a peaceful protest over the increase in the acceptance fees for new intakes into the Institution.
The students staged the protests on Monday, as the authorities suspended academic activities in the polytechnic for a week.
The suspension of academic activities, followed an indefinite strike embarked upon by the academic and non-academic staff of the polytechnic, since last Thursday, over unpaid three month salaries.
The polytechnic registrar, Olubunmi Elewedolu, in an internal memo to the students, directed them to stay off the campus between Monday and Friday, this week, to address the prevailing circumstances in the institution.
Meanwhile, students who besieged entrance into the campus, as early as 7 am on Monday, had rejected the acceptance fee for fresh students, raised from N35,000 to N50,000.
The students, carrying placards with various inscriptions, such as ‘the rector must go’; and ‘no to increase in tuition fees’.
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The students who massed at the entrance gate into the campus, also protested the delay in releasing of their results, as well as, the shortage of academic and non-academic staff in the polytechnic.
For instance, those who graduated last session are yet to be mobilized for service, I am in HND 2 second semester and I am yet to see the result of the exams I did in HND 1 second semester. This is affecting students because they do not know their academic standing and how well to prepare for the next exams.
One student, Olamide Ojelade, voiced concerns that tolerating the acceptance fee hike could potentially lead to an increase in overall school fees.
The institution’s Public Relations Officer, Yemi Ajibola, claimed that the students did not formally communicate their grievances to the school, which hindered the resolution of the issues.
He said, “The management is not aware of their grievances because they did not inform us of any reason why they are protesting. The management needs to be informed of what their grievances are for the management to be able to sit and deliberate on them. If they channel their grievances appropriately, it will be attended to.”
