Management of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Nnewi, has reacted to a protest by students of its School of Nursing over an increase in tuition fees, pledging to engage stakeholders to resolve the disagreement.
Some students of the institution on Tuesday staged a protest at the school gate, condemning what they described as an astronomical increase in their tuition fees from N90,000 to N580,000.
The increment was said to have followed an internal memo reportedly issued on Jan. 23 by Mr O. I. Ezejiofor, CMAC and Chairman of the Board of the NAUTH College of Nursing, announcing an upward review of the fees to enable the institution upgrade its facilities and standards.
During the protest, the students carried placards expressing dissatisfaction with the increase and also raised concerns about the high cost of accommodation around the institution.
Reacting to the development, the Chief Medical Director of NAUTH, Prof. Joseph Ugboaja, told journalists that the management would engage members of the board and the student union leadership to address the issues.
Ugboaja said he was away when the protest occurred but had been briefed on the situation.
“Once I return to the institution, we will sit with members of the board who proposed the new tuition and also with the student union leadership to sort out the issues,” he said.
According to him, the new board approved the review of tuition fees to enable the school maintain standards and provide better services for students.
“Our fees have been very cheap and even with the increment we are still among the lowest in the South-East.
“For someone who was paying N90,000, the increase may appear significant, but it is aimed at maintaining standards and giving the students the best training,” he said.
The CMD also clarified that the institution did not own hostels, noting that accommodation arrangements were largely between students and private hostel owners.
Meanwhile, the Public Relations Officer of the hospital, Mrs Chinyere Onwuka, said the leadership of the students’ union had dissociated itself from the protest.
According to her, the union wrote to the management to clarify that it was not involved in organising the protest.
Onwuka maintained that the reviewed fees were moderate and covered additional services provided by the institution.
“That amount includes their feeding and transportation to postings in Enugu.
“The hostels they talked about are private arrangements between the students and the owners,” she said.
She added that a comparison with fees charged by other nursing schools in the South-East showed that NAUTH’s charges remained relatively affordable.
According to her, some institutions charge as much as N800,000 for tuition alone, excluding feeding.
