PEREIRA
THE UNIVERSITY of the West Indies (UWI) is to deregister 534 students today for non-payment of tuition fees.
The final deadline for payment of tuition fees was September 30, but up to last Friday, the university was still allowing students to pay their fees. Joe Pereira, deputy principal of the UWI, told The Gleaner yesterday that the number of students to be deregistered has been reduced significantly from last week when approximately 800 students were up to be deregistered.
He explained that some students paid their fees in full last week, while others were still in the process of procuring loans from the Students' Loan Bureau (SLB). The university has allowed them to continue their studies.
REGISTRATION ADJUSTED
The deputy principal said the university also adjusted the registration for some part-time students by allowing them to register for the number of credits for which they have paid.
Currently, there are 331 full-time and 203 part-time students who are to be deregistered. However, these students will be able to resume their studies next semester, provided that their tuition fees are paid on time.
The new payment policy at the UWI was announced by the Financial and General Purposes Committee last academic year. Under the new policy, students are given until the last working day in September to pay for semester one and the last working day in January, for semester two.
But this did not go down well with hundreds of students who demonstrated against the administration's decision last October by padlocking the main entrances to the university, forcing classes to be cancelled.
More than 900 students were deregistered from the UWI last academic year.
