Parents Of Caleb University Students Laments High Cost Of Surchage

Parents of Caleb University students have said the surcharge meted out to each student for damages to the school property during the fracas two weeks ago was high as students could not have destroyed property worth N100 million.

The school management sent this text message to parents earlier in the week: "CUL Parents and Students are hereby notified that school resumes Mon,June 2. Exams start Mon,June 9. Male students are to pay N100, 000 while the female would pay N50, 000 by Bank Draft into Ecobank Acct 1993000979 to offset damage to school property.

Balance of Sch. Fees should be paid into Sterling Bank Acct. 0020022195. No student would be allowed into the University Premises without evidence of payment of school fees and the surcharge. A guarantor must accompany each student with a letter of undertaking to be of good behavior."

A mother, whose daughter is a student at the school told Saturday Vanguard: "The money they asked us to pay is too much. There are at least 1400 students in that school. If they must pay this much to offset the damage, that's at least
N100 million. What did they destroy that is worth that much? A lot of students lost their property.

My daughter lost her laptop, she was in the hostel when the whole thing happened. Where will I get money to buy a new laptop and then pay this surcharge?"

Another parent who did not want his name in print said that his son was at home on his Industrial Training scheme when the
incident occurred, but he also received the text message. "I'm very concerned about the way the school has been communicating with us since this incident occurred.

The day after the incident, we received a text message saying that a new student had a disagreement with one of the school officials, but that the situation was under control since only a few students were involved.

Later in the day, we received another message saying that the school had been shut and people had been asked to go home.

Now, weeks later, we are being asked to pay this outrageous sum of money. This is rather disappointing because we have a forum for parents and the school management."

Another parent, who also chose to remain anonymous for fear that his daughter would be victimised said that the school should have given parents the opportunity to assess the damage
by themselves.

He said: "They should have allowed us to see things for ourselves, that way we can all decide on how much should be paid.

As it is now, my daughter is receiving treatment because she fell from the staircase during the crisis. I have to pay hospital bills and then pay this surcharge also. It seems like school management is trying to manipulate us. See how close the resumption date is to examinations; so that people will have no choice but to pay."