The Osun State Polytechnic, Iree has justified its decision to increase the tuition fees for returning and new students, citing the current economic challenges in the country.
The school's spokesperson, Tope Abiola, explained the management's position in a phone interview with Prime 9ja Online on Friday, following the recent controversy in the school.
The OsunPoly management had announced the new fees for the regular programme for the 2023/24 academic session.
The tuition fee for Science, Technology and Engineering students was raised to N150,000, while Finance and Management Studies students will pay N147,500 for new students on an instalment basis.
Abiola's explanation came after the backlash from the OsunPoly students and the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS on Wednesday.
NANS and the OsunPoly students had opposed the planned tuition fee hike and demanded that the school management reverse the decision.
Some students had said they would quit the school if the decision was not changed.
NANS had also urged the Osun State Government and the OsunPoly, Iree management to review the decision and find a solution.
In a memo signed by its Public Relations Officer, Bamigboye Peter, NANS Zone D, South West had called the increased tuition fee an excessive burden on students seeking higher education.
However, the OsunPoly spokesperson told Prime 9ja Online that the management had scheduled a meeting with the student stakeholders, including NANS, for Monday, to discuss the issue.
He said the school had the lowest tuition fees among institutions in the Southwest before the increase, and that the school could not cope with the old fee rate due to the economic situation in the country.
He said: "With the current economic reality in the country, there is no way the school can sustain itself with the old school fee rate. Osun State Polytechnic, Iree charges the lowest school fees among institutions in the Southwest, less than the acceptance fees of some higher institutions. This is authoritative.
"With the current realities in the country, there is no way we can meet up without increasing the school fees.
"In the proposal to the state government, the increase was included in our budget. It was not arbitrarily fixed. It followed all due process for its approval by the government.
"As a result of this, we are inviting all the stakeholders in student unionism to a meeting on Monday, where we will spell out how we arrived at the decision, we intend to sort it out with them."
He appealed to NANS and the students to be calm and reasonable and said he hoped that a peaceful compromise would be reached after Monday's meeting.