By Our Reporter
The Vice Chancellor, Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu, Prof. Christian Anieke, has announced a 33 per cent reduction in school fees of students in the Faculty of Arts of the institution.
Anieke also announced the expansion of the scholarship programme of the university to accommodate five students per session.
The vice chancellor disclosed this on Friday in Enugu while briefing newsmen on the flag-off of admissions into the academic programmes of the institution for the 2021/2022 Academic Session.
The university is owned and managed by the Catholic Church Diocese of Enugu.
The vice chancellor, who is also a clergy, said that the fees reduction was aimed at assisting indigent students and their families considering the economic situation in the country.
He said that the students in the affected faculty would now be paying N241, 200 instead of the N350, 000 they paid in the 2020/2021 school year.
Anieke said that the fees covered hostel accommodation, water and electricity supplies, security and others.
“I do not know of any institution in this country that is talking about reduction of fees at a time when things are so expensive.
“The quality of our university is similar to that of first generation private universities and even better in some courses. If we charge based on our quality, our fees will be higher.
“We are doing this with the hope that God will be with us,” he said.
Anieke said that the university as part of its commitment to support indigent students had broadened its scholarship programme.
According to him, scholarships will be given to five students that will desire to study music in the university.
The vice chancellor said that more graduate and undergraduate programmes had been added in the university.
He mentioned the programmes to include PhD in Mathematics Education (Measurement and Evaluation), PhD in Accounting, PhD in Political Science, PhD in Microbiology and MA/ PhD in English and Literary Studies.
Others are MSc in Mass Communication, Biology Education, Physics Education and Chemistry Education.
He said that the university was also playing host to the Scholar Centre for Commerce and Industry in the South-East.
According to the vice chancellor, the centre would be responsible for providing training and coordination of all activities in commerce and industry in the region, including registration of businesses.
Anieke said that the university was striving for a remarkable improvement on the 600 students that were admitted into all its programmes in the 2020/2021 school year.
“Our university has done well and I believe that this flag off is going to be a conversion of more students,” Anieke said.