Chefmanef

When your school management announces an increase in tuition fees, the first thing students should do is organise themselves, mobilise, and peacefully shut down the school to register their displeasure. Put your SUG President at the forefront and collectively demand that management reconsider the decision. Let your voices be heard. Make it clear that students will not accept decisions that affect their welfare without being consulted. However, my recent experiences engaging with institutions that attempted to increase school fees have been quite disturbing. In most of these cases, I discovered that some SUG Presidents had already reached agreements with management to support the increment, simply because their own SUG allowances or dues would be increased. In other cases, management allegedly promised certain SUG leaders personal financial benefits in exchange for their cooperation. This is unfortunate! The SUG is established to protect and represent the interests of students, not to negotiate away their welfare for personal benefits. To every SUG President out there, remember that your loyalty should be to the students who elected you. You cannot collect a mandate from students and use it to bargain against their interests. Student leadership is a responsibility… Aluta Continua!