UNIZIK Nursing School to Review Fee Hike Following Student Protest

The management of the School of Nursing at Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Nnewi, Anambra State, has promised to engage the governing board and student leaders to address concerns over a recent tuition fee increase.

The assurance came after students staged a protest on Tuesday against what they described as an “astronomical” rise in fees from N90,000 to N580,000. Marching within the school premises with placards, the students chanted slogans including, “We no go gree, reduce the school fees, we no go gree,” to express their displeasure.

The fee hike followed an internal memo issued on January 23 by O.I. Ezejiofor, Chairman of the Board and Chief Medical Advisory Committee of the NAUTH College of Nursing, proposing the increase to support improvements in the institution.

Speaking to journalists, Chief Medical Director Prof. Joseph Ugboaja said the management would meet with the board members who proposed the new tuition and the student union leadership to resolve the issue.

“As for the school fees, yes, there was an increment. We had a new board that decided to review the tuition to enable the institution provide the best for the students. They proposed N580,000 and we approved it, but there is room to take another look and harmonize things,” Ugboaja said.

He added that the school had maintained relatively low tuition over the years and that the increase was necessary to sustain academic standards. On concerns about accommodation costs, he noted that the school does not own hostels and that arrangements are made directly between students and private hostel owners.

Meanwhile, the institution’s Public Relations Officer, Chinyere Onwuka, stated that the student union leadership had distanced itself from the protest, clarifying that the fees remain moderate. She explained that the tuition covers feeding and transportation for students during clinical postings, including trips to Enugu.

On comparison with other nursing schools in the South-East, Onwuka said NAUTH’s fees remain relatively low, noting that some institutions charge as much as N800,000 for returning students, often without including feeding.

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