No fewer than 5000 students of the University of Benin (UNIBEN) risk being barred from the second semester examinations scheduled to begin on Monday, September 29, over non-payment of school fees.
In a memo signed by the Registrar, Mr Ademola Bobola, the university said it would strictly enforce its “no payment, no examination” policy, noting that several reminders to the affected students were ignored.
“The university management has received the list of students who have failed to pay their school charges despite repeated notifications,” the memo stated. “These students have also not subscribed to the student loan programme provided by the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).”
Bobola explained that efforts to encourage the defaulters to settle their fees or access the NELFUND facility had yielded little result.
With the examinations set to commence Monday, the university warned that any student who fails to meet the payment requirement or subscribe to the loan programme would not be allowed to write the exams.
To ensure compliance, the Senate has directed provosts, deans, directors, and heads of departments to publish the names of defaulters by 8 a.m. on the day of the examination. The move, according to the registrar, is to allow affected students confirm their status and make last-minute payments if necessary.
An enforcement task force, chaired by the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic), has also been constituted to monitor compliance and ensure that only eligible students are admitted into examination halls.
“The university expects full cooperation from all stakeholders in order to uphold academic integrity and sustain the institution’s standards,” the memo added.
