The Vice Chancellor of the University of Medical Sciences Ondo town, Ondo State, Ebunoluwa Adejuyigbe, has refuted the report that the institution had increased its tuition.

It was earlier reported in some social media platforms that the university had raised its tuition, generating criticism from the parents of the concerned students.

But the VC, in a chat with our correspondent on Monday, in Akure, the state capital, described the reports as mischievous and false, saying there was no such development in the institution.

She said, “There are a lot of incorrect narratives in some sections of the media on tuition at UNIMED.

“We find the incorrect depiction of fees for our programmes by some fifth columnists hiding under the media as an attempt to discredit a rapidly growing institution.

“Let me set the records straight that the university did not increase fees across the board as it is being peddled; we only adjusted the fees of freshers to be able to give them the best in the face of the current economic realities.

“As a transparent institution, our fees are available on the university website for all to see. The fees are competitive compared to other institutions. They are highly subsidised by the government of Ondo State.

“Last year, we verified 87 students whose names we took to NELFUND. I, personally, have been in contact with the head of NELFUND to see why our verified students were not brought into the programme.

“This year, they have approached us again, and we are trying to verify something because we noticed that our fees were increased, which is erroneous because we didn’t increase the fees recently; they were increased earlier on.”

Commenting on the transfer of the UNIMED Teaching Hospital complex in Akure to the Federal University of Technology Akure Teaching Hospital, Adejuyigbe said it was a welcome development but noted that it did not mean the UNIMEDTH had been converted to FUTATH.

“We said we have three branches. One of our branches was given over to assist them, and so we still have our teaching hospital in Ondo.

“Okay, and also the fact that this has been transferred to them does not mean we cannot have access to it.

” One of the things in the MoU is that our students have unhindered access to all the facilities and the lecturers here and our teachers, who also say they come in here to train our students and to use laboratory facilities, are available,” she stated.