Institute of Technology students boycott exams

Yuda Poryo, an official with the Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology’s students organisation, addresses his fellow students as they staged a strike in the city yesterday.

Students of the Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology (DIT) and the school’s administration are locked in a tug of war over school fees payments.

The entire students’ body boycotted the exams which they were to sit for yesterday in an attempt to pressurize the school’s administration to allow their class mates who haven’t paid their tuition fees to go ahead and sit for their exams.

The student’s government prime minister, Lumora Steven said they want their fellow students be allowed to sit for the exams because according to him it is unfair to bar them despite their failure to complete payment of their school fees.

He said that at least 684 students are yet to pay their fees and that the school administration has announced plans to bar them from sitting for their examination.

“This is unfair, we are not going to sit for the exams until we are assured that all of us shall sit for the exams,” he said.

DIT Public Relations Officer, Amani Kakana said they previously would allow students to sit for their exams even when they had not completed payment of their fees but this time around the school administration has decided to take the bold decision and bar them.

“We have been too nice to them, we have been allowing them to do their exams regardless of delays in paying the fees and they are taking advantage,” he noted.

He insisted that the school administration will not allow any student who hasn’t paid their fees to sit for the exams.

“We want to discipline them…they should know that fees must be paid before exams,” said the PRO of the 3800 students strong Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology.