By Folaranmi Ajayi
Students of the School of Health and Information Management at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) have protested a 48 per cent tuition fees increase despite studying in an environment where basic facilities are either absent or malfunctioning.
From N126, 100 the school fees have been increased to N187, 100 for the National Diploma (ND), a 48 per cent increase. This is with immediate effect for the 2022/2023 academic year.
Similarly, the school fees have been raised from N186, 600 to N258, 100 for Higher National Diploma (HND), a 38 per cent increase.
In response to the protests, the school’s management has suspended all forms of student union activity.
Some students of the institution have described the hike in fees as a cruel means of extortion stating that the institution offers inadequate welfare and poor campus and academic facilities. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid being scapegoated.
A source who does not want their name mentioned said that the management has stopped all forms of classes on campus until the students paid their tuition fees. Lecturers are also poorly treated, the source added.
Footages taken show that the students are exposed to environmental hazards as various classrooms raise safety concerns. Some classroom ceilings were reported to have been partially destroyed, in addition to bad windows, doors, and various decimated lecture halls.
Some footage obtained from a source in the institutions shows some classrooms plunged in huge rainfall water.
In the same vein, the management of the institution in a recent release has ordered the immediate suspension of student union activities on campus over their resistance to the hiked tuition fee. Several sources claimed that the school management decided this after the school’s student union government had publicised the happenings in the institution.
Various student bodies have reacted to the development by demanding that the suspended school union government be reinstated with immediate effect. The students of the institution have however called on the government to intervene as it is oppressive to pay such an inflated price in the current economic crisis despite poor campus facilities and infrastructures.
All efforts by Edugist to reach the Public Relations Officer of the institution proved abortive, as she left the calls unanswered as of press time.
