University head defends fee hike that sparked protests

The president of the University of Liberia has defended a proposed tuition fee hike that sparked student protests last Monday, saying that the income will be critical to raising education quality at the country’s flagship institution.

Dr Emmet Dennis told University World News that four years ago the university’s board of trustees approved a tuition fee increase, from US$1.40 to US$5.00 per credit, which was to be introduced gradually over a three-year period.

The university had raised tuition four years ago from US$1.40 to US$2.50 per credit, but had subsequently not increased fees to match the target approved by the board.

The latest increase would add US$1 per credit to the existing tuition fee in September this year, leading to each student paying US$3.50 per credit – an amount that Dennis said was the lowest tuition fee charged by any university in Liberia and the region.

“We were hoping that as the economy of the country gets better, the students might be in a position to afford a little more to advance the quality of their education,” he said.

But students were not convinced. They took to the streets on Capitol Hill, home to the main campus of the University of Liberia, last Monday. The protest in the capital Monrovia included barricading a public road.

Nathan Kpai, chair of the University of Liberia Student Unification Party, told the New Democrat that students had gathered in the streets because Dennis had decided to increase tuition fees substantially.

Kpai saw no reason for the hike, saying that the university remained one of the least developed in Africa. “We have no fitting library for research, neither do we have the required textbooks to meet modern standards.”

The chair of the Student Integration Movement, Alhaji V Kromah, told In Profile Daily that students would not pay the proposed fees because, as a government-owned institution, the university had a duty to help Liberians who could not afford to learn at private universities.

“The country and university are in a post-conflict situation in which recovering is difficult,” Dennis told University World News. “Producing the human capital necessary for national development is a major focus for the university, but we lack the capacity to be substantially relevant and must address this quickly.”

Dennis said funds were needed to improve the profile of faculty – about 65% of academics are at the instructor level and the university is being accused of producing graduates with skills that are not relevant to Liberia’s developmental needs.

The University of Liberia, the oldest in the country, has only 15 lecturers with PhDs out of a total of 450 lecturers for 31,000 students. It hopes to fund top students to undertake postgraduate study abroad and then return to join the faculty.

The vice-chancellor said infrastructural changes were also needed: improved laboratories, reinstitution of sports, expansion of advising and counselling, and better access to the internet.

Although the protest started before consultation with students, Dennis said he hoped to resolve the disturbances through dialogue with student leaders in a meeting that was due to be held on 31 January.

“In a post-war situation a few students are committed to disruption and a few want a degree without an education. Some students feel strongly that they are entitled to free college education.

“But, the vast majority of our students are eager to learn and contribute to the development of their country,” Dennis said.

Ruinous civil war ended in Liberia in 2003. The country took a turn for the better when Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf became president in 2006, following the first polls since the end of the war.