Tuition fees a burden

IT is frustrating that University of PNG is increasing its fees at the beginning of every academic year.
The governing board has decided to increase its compulsory tuition fee from K2939 last year (2018) to K4242 this year (2019) – an increase of K1303.
Boarding and lodging fees remain the same as last year, giving the total fees payable by individual students ranging from K12,804 (minimum) to K16,242 (maximum).
This is huge and cannot be easily afforded by simple and ordinary citizens/parents in the country.
It is evident that even those working class parents/guardians are having difficulty securing and affording such massive amounts to pay for their children’s school fees.
To make the matter even worse, it’s annoying to note the university not taking into consideration its Government provisional liabilities as a State-run institution.
School fee structures are published and issued without consulting, considering and fairly reflective of Government’s initiative of Tesas scholarship.
Even the Government’s liabilities like non-payment of last year’s second portion of Tesas fee is being imposed back to individual students concerned to pay up.
This means those students who were under Tesas scholarship last year have to bear the liability and offset whatever amount the State was indebted with on his/her behalf, before proceeding onto paying this year’s required fee.
This is too much for some students in the likes of me, whose parents are simple subsistence farmers back in the village.
That’s total injustice as most students are not coming from a wealthy background.
They can’t afford to pay such a hefty fee imposed before the deadline of Feb 8. As such, can the Minister for Higher Education Research Science and Technology step in?

Siprah Masu Lulua
Semin village, Nipa
Southern Highlands