Over 200 final year students of Kyambogo University have been engulfed as they were locked out of examination rooms and missed the end of semester two examination on the first day of examinations due to failure to come up with convincing reasons on why they have failed to pay school fees.
The university says that some of these students have not paid any single amount of money and others have failed to fully complete payments by the time the university kicked off their semester two examinations on 16th Monday.
According to Kyambogo university fees payment policy and examination regulations of the university, no student is allowed to sit examinations without full registration on completion of payment of fees. However, Associate Professor Fabian Nabugoomu, the deputy vice Chancellor in charge of finance and administration says that because of the COVID-19 pandemic, they have favored students who have failed to fully clear their tuition.
university has considered students with exceptional circumstances like those who lost their parents/ guardians to sit for their final papers even when they have not yet fully completed paying tuition.
Professor Nabugoomu adds that members of staff who wish to support the students have been allowed to pay for the students or to be cleared by the university secretary to stand as surety for the students.
However, a staff from the office of deputy VC in charge of finance and administration on the condition of anonymity told this reporter that many students who approached their office came up with reasons that did not convince them to allow students to sit for the examinations.
She says that students who have been granted provisional registration to do exams are those that have experienced financial challenges as a result of death of their sponsors, guardians, parents and those who managed to get staff as their surety.
She as well reveals that if a student has clear records of paying the university in time, this could serve as an indication that they have failed due to some other challenges.
According to Kasimu Kakande, a finalist in the special needs and rehabilitation faculty who has failed to pay his fees in time said that, many students failed to get member of staff to stand as surety because most of them fear that students might fail to pay fees and it is the staff to meet that financial loss.
Staff is required to write to the university secretary and provide a copy of their work identity cards, indicating that, incase a student fails to clear fees; the university is allowed to deduct from their salaries.
The students were seen pleading with examination supervisors who could tell the students to go and get permission from the bursars or finance department.
Most of the students who have failed to clear their tuition to zero balance are because their parents/ guardians lost jobs because of the coronavirus pandemic as Patrick Labongo also a finalist says that he has managed to do his first paper because a relative who is a staff stood in for him as a surety.
Obadiah Eloba the head of coordinators in the department of economics and statistics revealed that he has been on several occasions approached by many students seeking advice from him on how they can handle the situation.
Other students have been sent out of the examination rooms because they had examination permits which were forged in order to access examination rooms.
Kyambogo University reopened for over 11,943 finalists on 15th October for a period of only four weeks that ended on 13th November. The exams that started today 16th will run for two weeks up to 29th November.
