Femi Falana, the principal partner of Falana & Falana’s Chambers, the solicitor for Caleb University has reacted to complaint letters by some complaints.
The solicitor said that universities in Nigeria accept tuition and other fees at the commencement of the session and even when the school is closed down, no refund is made.
Some Parents who are not members of the parent forum of the university had written complaint letters to express their displeasure over the demand for tuition fees, others by the management amist coronavirus pandemic.
In response to the letters Falana noted that there is a recognised parent body in the university through which all complaints can be lodged to the school and “the school cannot recognise any other parent’s body” he said.
“If you don’t like people on that (parent) platform, you throw them out democratically. They said they briefed a lawyer and the lawyer wrote to the school, we wrote to the lawyer that as a lawyer you can’t act for parents whose identities are not disclosed.
“Not when I’m involved can anyone victimise students. If these parents are genuine parents and they want to defend their children, it is something they should take up,” he said.
On the Limit to the number of parents that can be admitted on the parents’ forum, Mr Falana said every school has rules and regulations guiding it.
“Again the way it is done, if they want an all-commerce forum, every parent must be there, no problem, but if the body is run in a representative capacity, you are now asking for a change that we want every parent to be on the forum, I can’t see the school opposing that.”
“But for now, there is a channel of communication, if you don’t like the forum, then, tell the school that the forum is not representing us. If you love your children, you should be ready to stand by them,” he further said.
Responding to the complain on the Commencement of learning through an online learning portal without due consideration of the internet network connectivity, bandwidth capacity and cost of data and the Migration of students to the online platform without conversations with parents and guardians, the university’s spokesperson Elvis Otobo stated that Caleb University emerged one of the selected institutions to commence e-learning without interrupting its academic calendar.
He added that the university has successfully conducted academic, training and other regular activities on the University’s online platform, with student enrolment on the e-learning platform moving from 8% on April 20 to almost 100% by the beginning of July 2020.
“The institution early in the semester granted all students at undergraduate and postgraduate levels and lecturers, free access to various e-library resources, to enhance, research, learning, and teaching experience and capacity.”
“Numerous other social, political, and spiritual activities, are also going on virtually. The Student Representatives Council (SRC) elections are ongoing, with students currently campaigning to solicit votes for various positions. Activities will culminate in manifesto presentation and the inauguration of the new executive, virtually,” he stated.
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