50 international
students of University of Manitoba are facing an uncertain academic future
after the Nigerian state-run agency sponsoring their education suspended
services in November.
The Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency
(RSSDA) – which sponsors more than 1,200 students from the Nigerian state
to study abroad – owes the U of M approximately $575,000 in back fees and
winter 2016 tuition costs, according to numbers provided to the Manitoban by
the school.
According to
news reports, the agency suspended operations Nov. 20; three days after
employees of the agency protested the non-payment of more than seven months’
worth of salaries. The university has had no contact from the agency in more
than two weeks, said a spokesperson in an email delivered Nov. 30.
A report
from PM News in Nigeria said the institution will cease operations until a
peaceful resolution is reached in the labor dispute. In addition to its
overseas scholarship program, the development agency works with local
governments to improve food security and supports agricultural development,
along with other initiatives.
The agency
made Canadian headlines in recent weeks after CBC News reported it owes more
than $2.5 million in outstanding tuition fees for 246 Nigerian students
sponsored at 14 Canadian universities.
The
University of Regina, which took in 124 students through the program last year,
is owed $1.3 million in unpaid funds, more than any other Canadian university,
according to the report. U of R officials told the CBC they are confident the
agency will clear its debts and they expected no disruptions to the academic
schedule for affected students.
The U of M,
however, took a harder line. Under university policy, students two terms in
arrears cannot register for a third.
In November,
the agency paid the university $252,000, which clears winter 2015 fees.
However, balances remain outstanding for summer and fall 2015 and for students
already registered for winter 2016.
The school
has been working with the affected students, many of whom have been scrambling
to cover the outstanding fees by their own means, by developing payment plans
and offering extensions, said a spokesperson for the U of M.
“The
university has been and is continuing to allow the affected students grace
periods that other students are not granted, due to this extreme situation, to
allow the students caught in this situation the time to catch up, if possible,”
said the statement.
Invoices are
still being sent to RSSDA. When and if payment is received, students who paid
out-of-pocket will be reimbursed but the U of M.
The
university’s email said that while a deadline to settle outstanding fall fees
to avoid de-registration from the winter term hasn’t been set, a cut-off point
will be necessary, in fairness to students who have personally taken on their
fees and the student body as a whole. Students dropped from registration could
see their international student study permits lapse.
Gift Amadi,
a third-year political studies student, told the CBC he was given notice he had
30 days to clear his balance. He also noted the agency hasn’t funded his $1,100
monthly living allowance in nearly a year.
President of
the University of Manitoba Nigerian Students’ Association, Oyindamola Alaka, said the university is not going far enough to
accommodate the foreign students.
“The U of M
is putting so much pressure on students, but the students are not at fault,”
she said. “It’s not their fault that the government stopped paying for their
scholarship.”
“This agency
is not really doing what it’s meant to do, and it’s not only in Canada,” she
added, referring to students in the U.K. and the U.S who, she said, have also
had their university funds withheld by RSSDA.
The university
has received tuition payments from some RSSDA-sponsored students, who as
international students are charged nearly four times the going rate for
domestic students.
Empty Promises
After extensive recruitment and approval processes, selected students – mostly
from poor or underprivileged families – were promised post-secondary
scholarships from the government-funded RSSDA. Students expected the
scholarships would not only cover the full cost of university tuition up until
graduation but also living expenses.
However, in
addition to having their tuition go unpaid by the agency, students have not
received remittances for some time. The agency has withheld more than $3
million in living allowances to students at universities across Canada.
Students
have been getting part-time jobs or working additional hours to make ends meet.
However, under the study permit program, international students can earn only a
limited income. Some have received contributions from churches, as well as
family and friends.
Evangel Ekine, a Nigerian student in his final
year of labor studies at the U of M who is studying under the sponsorship
program, decried the situation that left Nigerian students to fend for
themselves.
“Enough is
enough,” he said. “Something needs to be done before something drastic happens
to their stay here in Canada.”
UMSU Responds
Vice-president
Advocacy for the University of Manitoba Students’ Union (UMSU), Rebecca Kunzman, said in an email
statement to the Manitoban that the union was originally approached
by the sponsored students in the summer of 2015 when they were unable to
register for courses due to their outstanding balances.
“RSSDA has
withheld payments for the students’ tuition, as well as living expenses for
over a year, and has thus degraded their relationship with the university and
jeopardized the students’ ability to continue with their studies,” Kunzman said
in her statement, adding the students “have been forced into an extremely
unfair and difficult position by their sponsoring agency.”
Kunzman said
UMSU has directly supported the students with hardship funding, and connected
them to resources to assist them with managing their finances. She said they
are working with students to negotiate with the university to come to a fair
resolution to address their situation.
She said the
students’ union will propose a motion calling on the agency to resolve its
outstanding balance to the university at its next regular council meeting Dec.
3.
“No student
should ever be put in a position where they need to justify their right to an
education that has been promised to them, and that they so rightly deserve.”
