June 4, 2021
BY MOHAMED M. SESAY
After several negotiations and dialogue between the Government of Sierra Leone and Limkokwing University Administration, the Minister of Technical and Higher Education (MTHE), Professor Alpha Wurie has yesterday informed journalists that government is now working on a three year payment plan in the tune of three million dollars (USD 3million) as fees for students of Limkokwing University.
Thereafter, government will now extricate itself from the initial agreement between the government of Sierra Leone and the Limkokwing University, it has been disclosed.
Breaking the news at the Ministry of Information and Communications Press briefing, Professor Wurie pointed out that President Bio is a compassionate person and resisted the suggestion to take the Limkokwing agreement to the Law Officers Department for legal opinion.
He added that Government has further negotiated with the University for a 50% reduction of fees so that government will pay for the Three hundred and twenty students who have completed their courses at diploma level but could not get their certificates because of nonpayment of fees.
Professor Wurie also disclosed that compassionately, government has decided to pay one thousand and fifty dollars for each student at Limkokwing which is three times the value of fees at Fourah Bay College.
She also revealed that there are six hundred and forty-four students who should have been in final year and which is the more reason government wants to ensure that those students have to access to their respective classes come 2021/2022 academic year. He added that Government is currently working out plan to pay for two sets of students which are those that have finished their course but cannot access their certificate and those in their final year of their studies.
‘The students of Limkokwin have done well this time because they did not go and abuse anybody but rather made a plea to the rest of the country for full support of their academic journey. If there are errors at the administrative level of Limkokwin University, those errors should not affect students”, he said.
Professor Wurie provided a background of the agreement stating that Limkokwin University was registered in 2013 and started effective operation in 2017. He revealed that the Minister of Education By then Minkailu Bah, signed a memorandum agreement with the University but said that agreement was not vetted my by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice and was not taken to cabinet, nor was it laid before Parliament.
He said the agreement stipulated that government must pay for one thousand two hundred students at a rate of three thousand dollars per student offering degree and two thousand five hundred dollars per student offering diploma. He further mentioned that the fees for one student at Limkokwin University offering degree course will pay for five students at College of Medicine.
He concluded that the Bio government came in 2018 and ignored the illegality of the establishment of Limkokwin University and tried to negotiate with the University Administration so that the concerns of the students would be addressed. He also disclosed that in 2018/2019, a payment plan was put together to pay twenty-three billion Leones (Le 23 billion) which is 2.3 million dollars for one academic year. He added that with the 2018/2019 payment plan, the University would have allowed the students to continue their classes but however, for the last seventeen month, students have not been taking classes.