Govt asked to pay up outstanding tuition fees for students on Tesas

CONTINUING students on Tertiary Education Scholarship Assistance Scheme (Tesas) at the University of PNG are appealing to the Government to pay up outstanding tuition fees for last year.
The university advised them to contact the Department of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology to pay in full any outstanding fees and the required fees for this year before registering.
The students are likely to be forced to withdraw from studies if they cannot meet the requirements.
Jiwaka Students Union president Peter Bari told The National yesterday that majority of the continuing students on Tesas were facing a critical situation.
Bari, a third-year science student, said students still had outstanding fees after the Government failed to pay their tuition fees last year.
“Students are facing a dilemma of missing out on studies this year,” he said.
“Students are in the registration week and the procedure for registration is that they have to be cleared by accounts.
“But when they went to accounts with the 2018 fees receipts, the accounts officers transferred their fees to cover last year’s outstanding fees,” he said.
“So they still cannot meet this year’s fees requirement in order to register,” Bari said.
“Continuing students are facing a difficult situation here. It is not their fault.
“It is the government’s responsibility to pay these Tesas-sponsored students outstanding fees from 2017 as well as for 2018.
“Parents would not believe what the students tell them about this situation, but this is the reality they are facing now.
“If they ask their parents to send them money to register, they cannot be trusted, therefore they speak as a group.”
Bari appealed to Higher Education Research Science and Technology Minister Pila Niningi and the university council to urgently address the situation so that continuing students don’t miss classes.
A spokesperson from the UPNG administration said according to the university’s notice on fees, students were fully responsible for the payment of outstanding fees that had not been paid by their respective sponsors.