UJ students continue protest against tuition hikes

AMMAN — Students from the University of Jordan (UJ) on Monday continued their protest on campus after staying overnight to express their rejection of the hike in tuition fees.

Around 50 students participated in a sit-in in front of UJ's administration building.

Protesters said the tuition fees for post-graduate programmes were raised almost three years ago by 100 to 180 per cent.

Ahmad Mustafa, one of the protesters, said the protest, held by the Student Rally for the Cancellation of the Tuition Fee Hike group was “peaceful” and students could talk to the council of deans and the board of trustees. 

“Several local media outlets circulated false information; there were minor clashes between a few individuals, not among groups or with campus security,” Mustafa said.   

Alaa Hijjeh, a fifth-year civil engineering student, claimed he was assaulted by another student from the university on Monday morning after the overnight stay.

“I was heading to the Faculty of Arts when a group of people followed me and said I have to leave the university. One of them beat me and I had to defend myself,” he told The Jordan Times. 

Students said the activist was asking for “the right of education for all” in the protest and a group of students replied “in an uncivilised manner” to the his demands. 

MP Hind Fayez attended the protest late on on Sunday night and discussed issues with students to address them in Parliament, according to students. 

Mustafa said Fayez promised students to address the issue and discuss it at the Lower House and that she will be contacting the university's president to reach a solution. 

The UJ administration and media office were not available for comment on Monday despite several attempts by The Jordan Times. 

Later on Monday, Mustafa said Public Security Department personnel dispersed the protest.

For his part, Adnan Badran, chairman of UJ’s board of trustees, said the university administration raised the fees to narrow the university's budget deficit.

“[The administration] decided to avoid raising tuition fees for the regular programme, in which around 65 to 70 per cent of students are enrolled,” he told The Jordan Times. 

Badran, a former prime minister, noted that the parallel programme, whose tuition fees were also raised, is usually more expensive than the regular programme, while post-graduate programmes are “optional”. 

He added that the university covers 60 per cent of the expenses of regular programme students.

“To afford the university’s expenses and loans, we raised the fees. It is the only logical solution since most students in the parallel and international programmes are relatively well-off.”

According to Badran, the largest ratio of UJ students are enrolled in the regular programme; therefore, the hike only affects less than 20 per cent of students. 

The official said the financial support UJ receives from the government only covers 5 per cent of its expenses.

Commenting on the protest, he said: “We understand their demands, but we have to face reality and deal with the challenges the university faces.”

Badran said that for the administration to reverse the decision, the protesters have to provide it with a viable alternative, or else, the university would be closed.

“The university suffers from a deficit and has to repay around JD27 million in loans... we need to do something about this,” he stressed.