Further to Management’s directive to students who failed to register for the semester to defer their programmes, Management wishes to provide further clarification as follows:
- In preparation towards the re-opening of schools, Management circulated the Calendar for the Academic year which detailed registration timelines for students. The initial deadline for registration for continuing students as captured in the Academic Calendar was 26th December, 2020.
- Management decided to extend the registration deadline to 8th January, 2021 after tertiary institutions received the greenlight from the presidency to re-open on the 9th of January, 2021.
- In a quest to ensure that as many students as possible registered for the 2020/2021 Academic Year, Management decided to, again, extend the deadline for registration to 3rd February, 2021.
- As act of magnanimity, Management upon expiration of the 3rd February deadline approved 25th February, 2021 as final deadline for the payment of the minimum 60% of fees and subsequent registration.
- Students’ registration constitutes a vital part of academic procedures in tertiary institutions the world over as it influences decisions regarding lecture hall allocation, preparation of lecture and examination time tables among others.
- The several deadline extensions resulted in an unprecedented 24-week registration window without any penalty payment.
- This decision by Management is in consonance with Section 9.3 of the Institute’s Undergraduate Academic Policies and Procedures which stipulates that “Students who fail to register (in person or by proxy) during the official registration period at the beginning of the semester forfeit their right to register for the semester or the entire Academic Year”.
It also satisfies Section 13.5 of the same policy which stipulates that “Students who absent themselves from class for twenty-one days in a semester without official permission from the Registrar, are deemed not to have satisfied the class attendance requirements for the semester and shall not be assessed as having completed the programme”.
- Management notification to students who fell foul of the above sections was to ensure that affected students do not lose their studentship. Deferment of programme should therefore not be seen as a punishment but as an opportunity to retain studentship.
- In line with the Institute’s practice, payments made by students before deferment is credited to the student’s account.
- The general public is by this statement informed that Management of the Institute came to this decision after careful consideration to ensure that the academic processes required to keep the school running are upheld.
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