Academic and other activities at the College of Education, Warri, Delta State, were on Thursday brought to halt as students of the institution staged a peaceful protest over alleged hike in tuition fee, non-release of students’ academic records, results, and denial of access to facilities meant for the students.
The students who blocked the main entrance to the Institution also protested to the Edjeba premises of Delta Broadcasting Service, DBS, Warri, where they called on the state government and other relevant authorities to put a stop to the increase of their tuition fees.
The students who carried placards with different inscriptions alleged hike in tuition fee, non-release of their results and other abnormalities going on in the school, called on the state government and educational stakeholders to come to their aid.
The leadership of the institution’s student union body and other students who spoke said their major demands were reopening and extension for the school fees to be operational to the end of the session, scarping of late registration fee and granting of access to students to use the restroom facilities in the school premises.
The students said the protest will continue until all their demands were met by the school authority.
Reacting, the Public Relations Officer of the institution, Mrs VusiOwarieta Enakarhire, refuted all the allegations made by the students.
She said the institution’s management had held a meeting with the students’ union leaders and have agreed to suspend the protest and ensure that the students resume their academic work.
For his part, the Director, Central Record, Dr Anthony Ifedirah, said the reasons some of the students have not seen their results were failures on their part to pay their tuition fees and register in the school portal.
Meanwhile, the leadership of the students’ union and the management of the Institution have signed a Memorandum of Understanding MOU, extending the closing date for payment of school fees for the next 48 hours.
