The University of Bamenda has denied allegations of extortion of its students.
The institution was reacting to complaints raised by students over the amounts they are made to pay to access their online platforms, register for courses and get results.
Professor Suh Cheo Emmanuel, Deputy Vice-Chancellor in charge of Teaching, Professionalization and Information and Communication Technologies reacting to the accusations said it was the handiwork of detractors.
“When you create your account using the University of Bamenda website, an email is sent to you, you login and you are in the CMS. You go to your faculty and select your courses then see all courses that are loading. It is free,” he explained.
The second platform, Prof. Suh Cheo highlighted, is the student registration platform.
With the university aligning its calendar to that of the ministry of higher education, the official said sticking to deadlines is key.
“A student who comes at the beginning of the academic year and goes to the Course Management System, pays the normal fee of 50,000frs registration fee. If it is a fresh student you have to pay insurance fee, medical fees and caution so you add all of that up,” he stated.
Students, he said, are compelled to pay the sum of 1,000 frs as platform charge, and nothing else. The lone cost added, he said, is for late registration of courses.
“So as the 25th of February was approaching which is the deadline of payment of second instalment of fees, the university on the 9th of February put a notice reminding students that ‘if you don’t pay your registration fee by the 25th of February in full, you cannot sit for exams and before exam starts, you will pay a penalty of 5,000 FCFA’,” he explained.
“I can say with certainty that over 90% of our students had already paid their fees by that date. Those who tried to pay at the last minute when that deadline had passed have to pay a penalty of 5,000 frs. That helps because if the students don’t register on the platform, during the examination they cannot see their continuous assessment marks,” the official explained further.
“Pay your fees in time, do your continuous assessment evaluation in the course of the semester. On the day of the exam, you will see that score against your name so you ca verify if the teacher has made a mistake and you raise an alarm so it can be corrected so that the student records are correct” he urged students, adding that “any information to the contrary is a distraction”.
Students of the University of Bamenda had raised concerns over the costs they are made to pay, questioning why every step of the registration to reception of results process requires that they pay.
Mimi Mefo Info
University of Bamenda denies extortion allegations, says its handiwork of detractors
