SINU’s tough stance: Pay-up 100% of fee or NO exams

Thousands of students could be locked outside the exam classrooms in June as the Solomon Islands National University (SINU) has taken the toughest ever policy to ban students who have not paid their school-fees 100 percent.

SBMOnline was reliably informed by the university tonight that more than 90% of students at SINU have not paid their schools in full and they face the real possibility of missing out on the exams.

Acting SINU Vice Chancellor Dr Jack Maebuta had already told the media that no students would be allowed to sit his/her exams if school fees were not paid in full (100%).

He warned that the university’s security guards would be deployed to classrooms during the exams to remove students with outstanding fees.

A total of $122m in outstanding school-fees has been owed to the university by ongoing students and those awaiting graduation dating back to 2018. Members of Parliament and privately sponsored students account for most of the money owed to SINU.

On the other-hand, students that are sponsored by the government via the National Training Unit are not part of those with outstanding fees, and they would be allowed to sit the exams.

The university at the beginning of this year demanded that all students enrolled at SINU must pay up 30% of their school fees before they were allowed in.

The university confirmed that all students who were allowed this year had paid 30% of their fees and they expected 40% in March and the final 30% by end of April.

“Unfortunately, most of the students had not paid their 40% and 30% portions of the fees. This has left the university with other options but to demand that only those who pay up 100% will be allowed to sit their exams,” a senior official from university told SBMOnline tonight.

This magazine understands that letters have already been delivered to the MPs this week reminding them of their constituencies’ outstanding school fees with the university.

SINU has told the students that failing to pay their school fees in full before the end of May, they will not be allowed to sit their exams. This means that they will fail their courses for the first semester as the exams make-up of a huge percentage of their final marks. Additionally, assignments and assessments will not be marked due to outstanding school fees.

SINU currently has about 7,000 students. The June exams are for all students across the university regardless of which year they are in.

SINU desperately needs the school fees as it also struggles with its finances to run the operations of university.

News@SBMOnline2020