Outstanding student fees drive up debt at Polytech

POLYTECHNIC students owed the institution N$18 million in outstanding tuition fees at the beginning of this month, the Chairman of its Council, Mike Hill, revealed yesterday.

Responding to concerns raised by the Students Representative Council on Friday, Hill said the debt was N$13,9 million at the same time last year after the students allegedly took a “unilateral decision” not to pay the fees on which the Polytechnic relies heavily. In the past three years the Polytechnic has already written off as unrecoverable N$3,2 million owed by former students.On Friday, SRC President Hileni Shikwambi lamented the fact that the Polytechnic had barred some students from writing exams this term because they owed N$500 or more.Shikwambi charged that this was counter-productive and would hinder the realisation of education goals in Vision 2030.Hill said the Government subsidy to the Polytechnic had not been increased for the past five years while student numbers had risen by around 75 per cent over the same period.”Through following a policy of not spending money that we do not have we have managed, through very prudent financial controls, to continue developing the Polytechnic to the point where we provide our students with high quality, internationally recognised qualifications.This is our contribution to national development,” Hill said.He said the extreme financial constraints facing the institution were discussed at the April Council meeting and one option was to reduce student intake and the range of courses offered.”This situation is not for the Council’s choosing – our funding comes from Parliament which has to decide on the allocation of limited funds to national development priorities.Our role as members of the Council is to ensure the most efficient and productive allocation of funds to the achievement of our objectives,” Hill said.He said the SRC was well informed about the funding constraints but that student leaders were not assisting the Polytechnic in its representations to Government despite having common ground.In the past, the Polytechnic management allowed students owing less than N$500 to write the June examinations and those owing less than N$250 to write the year-end exams, with results being withheld until the debt was settled in full.Hill said the arrangement was introduced to help tide over the most disadvantaged and not as a right for all students.In the past three years the Polytechnic has already written off as unrecoverable N$3,2 million owed by former students.On Friday, SRC President Hileni Shikwambi lamented the fact that the Polytechnic had barred some students from writing exams this term because they owed N$500 or more.Shikwambi charged that this was counter-productive and would hinder the realisation of education goals in Vision 2030.Hill said the Government subsidy to the Polytechnic had not been increased for the past five years while student numbers had risen by around 75 per cent over the same period.”Through following a policy of not spending money that we do not have we have managed, through very prudent financial controls, to continue developing the Polytechnic to the point where we provide our students with high quality, internationally recognised qualifications.This is our contribution to national development,” Hill said.He said the extreme financial constraints facing the institution were discussed at the April Council meeting and one option was to reduce student intake and the range of courses offered.”This situation is not for the Council’s choosing – our funding comes from Parliament which has to decide on the allocation of limited funds to national development priorities.Our role as members of the Council is to ensure the most efficient and productive allocation of funds to the achievement of our objectives,” Hill said.He said the SRC was well informed about the funding constraints but that student leaders were not assisting the Polytechnic in its representations to Government despite having common ground.In the past, the Polytechnic management allowed students owing less than N$500 to write the June examinations and those owing less than N$250 to write the year-end exams, with results being withheld until the debt was settled in full.Hill said the arrangement was introduced to help tide over the most disadvantaged and not as a right for all students.