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MCA students, management tussle over tuition payment plan

Malawi College of Accountancy (MCA) students have accused the institution’s management of trying to siphon money from them through a new tuition fee payment plan.

The tuition is K415 000, but according to a payment plan which the school implemented, the amount is supposed to be paid within a month at the start of the semester, with students who pay in two instalments parting with K430 000 while a three-instalment payment costs K450 000.

In an interview yesterday, MCA Students Union president Thapelo Nankhuni said the students feel ambushed as they were forced to sign an agreement of the tuition instalment plan to which some protested at the beginning of the semester.

He said: “Only a few people signed that document and as a matter of fact, that instalment plan to us is like being subjected to paying interest and it was supposed to apply to those who signed it. When we went to the accounts department, we found that only a few students signed it. We protested about it and we thought it was resolved for students to be paying the normal fees.”

Nankhuni also said students at the institution have been pushing for a standardised tuition and are surprised that management still went ahead to implement the new plan.

He said the students have since booked an appointment with the college principal Agrippa Phiri today to discuss the matter.

But when contacted yesterday, Phiri argued there has been an agreement with the students on the plan.

He said: “We are not charging them interest as they put it because they were told to sign the agreement and it is a legally binding document. When, for example, someone is starting school, they are told to sign it. We survive on fees, we do not get subventions from the government.”

Phiri, who said he was in Lilongwe attending a meeting as of yesterday, said he will meet the students as his office has always been open to discussions.

MCA is a statutory training institution specialising in accounting and finance, established in 1980 by government under the Education Act.

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