Pay up or no exams, says Polytechnic

AN unspecified number of students at the Polytechnic of Namibia will not be sitting for their exams after they failed to pay tuition and hostel fees.

The president of the Student Representative Council (SRC), Chrispin Kapalu, confirmed to The Namibian on Friday that a number of students had approached the student leadership after the Polytechnic informed them that they would be barred from the exams due to unpaid fees. A source at Polytechnic confirmed the latest developments but referred all questions to the Rector, Dr Tjama Tjivikua.Kapalu did not say how many students were affected but said it was a sizeable number.The SRC received a list of students that had received bursaries from the Ministry of Higher Education on Wednesday and the Polytechnic subsequently served those who were not covered by the bursaries with letters demanding payment.”Obviously the students cannot settle the debts in such a short time and we have tried to negotiate with the Polytechnic who feels they must first settle and then write the exams,” Kapalu said.The SRC tried to negotiate for the Ministry to allow students to write and then to withhold the results until they settle their debts.The Polytechnic received the bulk of its annual budget from Government, but the State has been unable to significantly increase the subsidy on a sustained basis.Student fees complement the subsidy and constitute only about 20 per cent of the institution’s revenue.A source at Polytechnic confirmed the latest developments but referred all questions to the Rector, Dr Tjama Tjivikua.Kapalu did not say how many students were affected but said it was a sizeable number.The SRC received a list of students that had received bursaries from the Ministry of Higher Education on Wednesday and the Polytechnic subsequently served those who were not covered by the bursaries with letters demanding payment.”Obviously the students cannot settle the debts in such a short time and we have tried to negotiate with the Polytechnic who feels they must first settle and then write the exams,” Kapalu said.The SRC tried to negotiate for the Ministry to allow students to write and then to withhold the results until they settle their debts.The Polytechnic received the bulk of its annual budget from Government, but the State has been unable to significantly increase the subsidy on a sustained basis.Student fees complement the subsidy and constitute only about 20 per cent of the institution’s revenue.