Pay fee to register: UPNG
BY OLIVE SUKUN
THE University of PNG wants students to pay the compulsory fee of around K3,000 to register for the first semester, even if they have applied for a loan through Help (higher education loan programme), an official says.
UPNG public relations director James Robins said the declaration form students filled “is a declaration of willingness by individual student in applying for the Help programme” to register for the first semester of the academic year.
“The Help programme is not a legal process yet,” he said.
“The legal and financial aspect of the programme has not been put in concrete by the Government.”
Robins said there were policy determinations and other things yet to be finalised “which is why they (Government) are saying it will not be available as an application form until April this year”.
“What they have made available is the declaration of the willingness of a person to want to apply for Help,” he said. Department of High Education, Research, Science and Technology secretary Fr Jan Czuba stated last Friday the department would ensure that all higher education institutions “receive payment as soon as possible”.
“Most importantly, for students without the ability to pay fees, all registered higher education institutions have been advised not to turn away eligible students at the beginning of the 2020 academic year registration,” he said.
But Robins said it was a declaration of “their willingness” and did not say is the Government “will honour that”.
“The declaration forms once filled should be submitted to the registrar but until the declaration is legally approved by the Government and passed, it is not a process,” he said.
Meanwhile, Robins said a team of officers from NID (national identity programme) will be at the university to do NID registration for the students throughout the week.
9 comments
This is wrong , why is the govt asking universities to get loans and students will be entitle for the place in the university yet they are being told to register .Why is the minister for Higher education sends another instruction and Universities sends another instruction. THE HIGHER EDUCATION MINISTER is the head, University Body must follow the instruction from the Govt of the day, This is insubordination the people making this calls from university must be sack immediately. UPNG should send the instruction from the end of the 2nd semester 2019 rather then letting til the 3 weeks before registration , where would the parents would find 3 thousand kina at this short period , common sense must prevail here. HAVE SOME DECENT SENSE….
The University (UPNG) and others are an organization(s) that will operate by budget on goods and services. Nothing is free…. Students must pay before they enter UPNG… Some of us parents are paying from our hard earned cash, for we know that nothing is free. The sad thing is, UPNG and others could survive for few weeks or months at the back of few parents who are paying… and others (GoPNG and citizens) having a free ride… Its not fair…. Classes at UPNG should continue for these students who are paying up and those who can not, can wait for their government to pay…
K3000.00 Tuition fee i believe is reasonable to pay, nothing is free in this country and you university student should know that by now and saved something during the holidays.
This makes sense. The students can feel the pain of tution fee besides government aid. The pain of paying the fee would boost the commitment towards studying.
We all must understand the process here. Even though Government has approved HELP it is yet to be finalized both legally and financially. As such, as responsible parents and students we must play our part in paying tuition fees for our children. That is our moral obligation. After all, HELP is merely a loan which the student will have to repay at zero interest after completing studies and securing employment.
If HELP was not available we will still have to dig deep in our pockets to pay tuition fees. So be patient, be sensible, and be responsible. All institutions of education need funds to operate, same as any profit-oriented organization.
The Administration especially Student Administration at UPNG should be scrutinized and investigated to establish issues surrounding the awarding of dormitory spaces to students. Students mostly continuing students on HECAS who turned up at the Student Admin with full fees were told to wait until Friday 21st Feb, 2020. They were told that Dormitory Spaces were fully booked online and there were no spaces left so they had to wait till Friday. This is insanity at it’s best. Do they consider the safety of the students who are already at the campus with full tuition and boarding/lodging fees. Port Moresby is a notorious city and people especially Students are mercilessly murdered every year. The Student Admin cannot force students to reside with relatives or friends out of the campus where they are prone to hostility. I don’t understand why priorities are given to students who have booked online without actually paying the prescribed tuition & boarding/lodging fees. Can the Minister and Secretary for DHERST look into the matter.
I don’t think right at the moment what the National government through Education department said would work out well. it takes process and formal protocol to endorse such idealogy. PNG government is too good in formulating ideas without proper procedures followed. It is something our government should critical think about it puts in logical approach. Don’t rush things and then starts putting pressure on our parents.
Nothing is free, Hard Work Pays
If we -students made it into grade 12,1st year at university or college ,2nd, 3rd year or 4th. WE SHOULD BE IN A BETTER POSITION TO BE AN INOVATIVE AND SMART TO RAISED FUNDS DURING HOLIDAYS IN ADVANCE FOR NEXT ACADEMIC YEAR RATHER THAN WAITING FOR THE RESULTS TO COME AND WE START LOOKING OR RAISING FUNDS.
MAKE USE OF THOSE SMARTNESS OR KNOWLEDGE ACQUIRED AND RAISE YOUR OWN SCHOOL FEE RATHER THAN PUTTING PLEASURES ON PARENTS, GUARDIAN OR GOVERNMENT ALL THE TIME
The HELP Scheme implementation should have been delayed until 2021. By then the policy, procedures and processes let alone legal contractual agreements between the parties ( Government, students and institutions) would have been firmly in place.
Just my thoughts.
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