What is AES & HECAS? 1st year UPNG students told to pay up to K10,000 if they want campus accommodation

So today as a first time UPNG parent, I was confronted with the UPNG fee structure.

For a first year arts student, we were told to pay K4242 in compulsory tuition fees.  As parents, no problems there. It’s a bit of a pain but we are willing to pay for tertiary  education.

What annoyed me the most was that the cheapest  accommodation on campus – a basic twin share room cost K8562.  Accommodation is actually more expensive than actual teaching and learning and it’s handled by student services.

Students were told for the board and lodging, you will have to ‘consult Student Services and have that sorted out.’

Here are the accommodation costs for BASIC TWIN SHARE ROOMS:

1. Waigani Campus – K8,562
2. Taurama Health Services – K8,890
3. Taurama BOH/BOS, MMBS, DAS – K10,247
4. Tauram Nursing – K9,883

And the prices go up with the highest being the Games Village TWIN SHARE ROOMS  leasing (yes, “leasing” because that’s what it is) for  K12,000.  That’s K1000 per month plus the K250 for the bond.  Also note in the costs above that It costs more for a future nurse and doctor’s accommodation at UPNG. I would understand if the tuition fees are high.

Retired PNGDF Commander, Major General Jerry Singirok, took his son to register today at the Games Village.  He was disappointed after paying a hefty accommodation fee. He posted on Facebook.

“Games village accommodation showers and toilets are not working and rooms are in a mess. I spent most of the morning carting water and cleaning my son’s room. But no running water in the ablution block. UPNG admin had over six weeks to prepare. Even grass overgrown and many furniture thrown on the lawn and rusting away.
This is supposed to be a premiere University?”

In short, a first year student on the Government Academic Excellence Scholarship looking for the cheapest accommodation on campus will have to pay  K13,0554

The UPNG Student Services Division has attempted to explain the reasons for  demanding the fee payments in their current form.  In short,  they are saying the  parents  must pay up because funds for the government HECAS and AES scholarships will not be paid on time.  The memo didn’t have any official letterhead and was unsigned.

For the University of Technology in Lae, the costs are more than 50 percent lower than UPNG and accommodation costs  cost 90 percent less.  Parents  and guardians of  a student on AES  will pay K4,139.7 This includes tuition (K1771.56),  Board and lodging (K424.59), a Compulsory fee (K1096.61), and a laptop. Bottom line is parents know what they are paying for.