The fate of 21 Bayelsa students on scholarship at the Lincoln University, Pennsylvania, the United States (U.S.) is now hanging in the balance as they risk dropping out of the school unless the home state government settled their fees immediately.
The students, who are said to be in their final semester at the institution, appealed to the government to immediately initiate payment process to avoid jeopardising their education.
Meanwhile, the state government told The Nation that there was nothing to worry about as Governor Seriake Dickson has taken step to settle the bills.
According to the governor’s spokesman Markson Iworiso, the state government was in touch with the school authority and already working out plans on how to pay outstanding fees.
He said: “There is no cause for alarm. The government is aware of its obligations and commitments to the students. It is taken necessary steps that they all complete their studies. Government meant well by sending them abroad to study.
“The governor is I touch with the U.S. and he has already acted. There is really nothing to worry over. Although the recession has affected the state economy, but the government knows its priorities, and these include the education of Bayesla children.”
One of the affected students, Akpos Akins, reportedly said in a telephone chat from Pennsylvania that the school authorities alleged that the estimated outstanding fees stood at about $970,000.00 dollars (about N300 million).
According to him, subsequent payment had not been regular since the payment for the first session, explaining that the university would not even honour payment by students or their parents as the management insisted that such arrangement would run contrary to the agreement signed with the state government.
He claimed that all efforts made by the parents’ association to get the government to clear the outstanding fees have not yielded results.
Akins acknowledged the good intention of the foreign education scholarship by the governor and appealed to him to help secure their future by directing immediate release of funds for the payment.
