School fee more than doubles for Sittwe University distance learners

By DMG 29 Dec 2022

DMG Newsroom
29 December 2022, Sittwe

The school fee for distance learners at Sittwe University for the 2023 academic year has more than doubled, according to Sittwe University staff.

The fee has increased from K20,000 last year to K46,200 for the upcoming academic year.

“The government has increased fees as well as the prices of textbooks. We have increased the fee according to instructions from the Higher Education Department,” said department head U Kyaw Naing Oo of Sittwe University.

School fees for distance learners have also increased at other universities across the country.

Distance learners who come from other parts of Arakan State are having difficulties due to high costs for accommodation and meals. Some have to stay in monasteries as they can’t afford hostels.

“Those who can’t afford it have to sell their cattle to pay the costs to continue their studies,” said second-year history student Ko Thant Zin from Maungdaw Township, who is a distance learner at Sittwe University. “While jobs are scarce and costs are high, increased school fees is, of course, another blow to us.”

Some students have thus decided to abandon their studies and work overseas, where they face better economic prospects, he added.

“My parents are old, and we are not earning a decent income,” said a third-year distance learner from Myebon. “As the political situation is not good, I don’t want to continue my studies. I don’t want to ask for money from my parents as hostel rent is high and other prices are also increasing. So, I have decided to go abroad.”

Tuition fees have also increased, from K75,000 in 2018 to K98,000 in 2022.

Distance learner Ma Hnin Wai Hlaing from Buthidaung, who will be attending her first year at Sittwe University, said she is worried about rising prices.

“It will cost me a lot to go from Buthidaung to Sittwe. Transportation is not good. Businesses are also slow. So, there are many difficulties. My parents work on farms, and rice does not fetch good prices this year. School fees, tuition fees, and costs for accommodation and meals have increased, so I am worried,” she said.

There were 3,491 distance learners enrolled at Sittwe University in 2022, according to the university’s distance learning department. Distance learners have to enrol between December 26 and February 28 of next year, according to the junta’s education department.