Students at Kyambogo University have written to their Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Elly Katunguka, seeking a refund or adjustment of the additional tuition they paid following a recent hike in fees. The students say the increment has been effected without adequate consultation or taking their views into consideration, thereby undermining the mission of the university and the wider objectives of public education.
In a letter dated August 29th, 2024, the students asked the university administration either to refund the additional amounts paid or to carry them forward to the next semester. They had thus told the university management that they were willing to collaborate in resolving the matter with mutual benefit. “We request that the extra amounts paid are either directly refunded to the students or carried forward. We are willing to work collaboratively to find a solution that benefits both the students and the University,” the letter reads.
The students also felt that increasing tuition was insensitive and an act of adding insult to injury, considering it runs against the very important reason for the establishment of Kyambogo University and generally the philosophy of education as a public good. They said, “The decision, without consultations and consideration to the students’ views, is not only inconsiderate but also detrimental to the very purpose of the establishment of Kyambogo University and education in its entirety.”
The letter went further to impress the negative implications of the commercialization of education by declaring that education should be regarded as a public investment that improves economic returns, not only for families and communities but also for the nation as a whole, rather than a privilege for the few who can afford it. “Commercialization of education also goes contrary to the university’s mission of serving a public good. We strongly reiterate that education for the greater good of national development and to address the many setbacks should be a public investment toward improving economic returns to families, communities, and the nation at large, and not only for a privileged few,” added the students.
The students, in their petition, proposed the following as alternative means of generating extra money by the university without transferring excessive burdens to its students and sponsors. These include:
- Increasing government funding and investment in higher education;
- A progressive student employment framework that minimizes university expenditure while at the same time easing the lives of students from poor backgrounds;
- Progressive resource mobilization strategies that raise university income without putting the entire burden on the students;
- Soliciting more donations and building more partnerships that can attract more income to the university.
The students want these issues addressed before the close of August 30th, 2024, so that the many stranded students, who could not enroll for this semester, may be able to register. This petition is an indication of a growing sense of dissatisfaction on the part of the students and a reflection of the need for more representative decision-making processes on the part of the administration.
