A section of Makerere University students is struggling to raise tuition which they diverted when the online payment system was non-functional.
In September, the university transitioned from Academic Information Management System -AIMS to the Academic Management Information System- ACMIS, a new records management system, which affected payments.
However, at the end of last week, the system was restored to enable payment of tuition. This caught some students unaware especially those who had diverted the money for personal use.
George William Asajja who is a finalist says that he was forced to borrow some money from a friend and top up part of the tuition he had spent when he was told that the online system had been restored.
According to Asajja, he was tempted to use part of his tuition to buy food which his parents could not provide after struggling to raise the tuition.
Masitula Nakiyemba, another finalist says that she spent her tuition of 980,000 Shillings hoping to recover it before the payment system was restored.
“When the system started working this week I had only 98,000 Uganda Shillings left. Every day I would use 10,000 shillings and spend it on transport or airtime. Now I have to get someone to borrow from.”
Another student Angella Nakassi revealed that to avoid being tempted to use the tuition, she decided to give it to a friend who saved it for her. She says that when the payment system was restored, she cleared the fees.
Abel Okot a second-year student said that the postponement of tuition payment was a blessing because his parents had not raised the fees.
However, he adds that since the online payment system is functional, he has to devise means of clearing money for two semesters.
“The deadline for tuition payment is detrimental because I do not have money at the moment. My parents can only afford to clear in installments.”
The Academic Registrar in a circular released this week noted that the students have been given up to the end of the week to pay registration and payments for the semester.
Until last year, the university had been using a privately owned online tuition payment system Academic Information Management System-AIMS whose license expired leading to public universities developing their own, Academic Management Information System- ACMIS.
Over time, several cases of students spending tuition in investing in business, betting, and leisure among others have been higher in institutions of learning.
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