It’s almost the end of the year and for most final-year graduates, this is the time when they will finally get the scroll they’ve worked so hard for in the past three to four years.
That said, graduation fees can sometimes be a little pricey because the convocation is usually organised at an atas place with expensive rental fees. Nonetheless, students from a particular local college have been complaining about their graduation fees being too high for a convocation that will be held in the main campus itself.
Therefore, these students have opened a petition on change.org to highlight the matter and bring it to the public’s attention. According to the petition’s description, the price of the convocation, which will take place on 24 and 25 November 2018, costs a whopping RM820.00 (RM300 from the amount is a refundable deposit).
At the time of writing, the petition has gained over 3,000 signatures.
Source: Change.org
Although the current amount is a reduction from the previous convo price, which was RM930 for two guests, the students still find the price too expensive for an on-campus convo. The students said that they could understand the logic behind the previous convo’s price because it was normally held at Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel but the price for the upcoming convo is a bit unreasonable when considering the venue.
To understand the college’s point of view, WORLD OF BUZZ reached out to the college for their statement on this matter and they said that the RM110 decrease in the fees is a 17 per cent reduction (from the previous fee).
They explained that even though the decrease in the fees is not significant, the students can bring in more guests for their convo. It’s something they couldn’t do previously!
Their statement wrote,
“Furthermore, we are allowing unlimited guests, which we couldn’t do before, at only RM40 instead of RM120 previously.”
Source: i- Event Planner
They said that guests will also enjoy refreshments and food, “which cost substantially higher than RM40”. The only difference is that they will watch the graduation ceremony from a different auditorium through a live feed.
Thus, the college administration feels that the comparison of convo fees of other universities against them is quite unfair. They continued,
“Making comparisons with other institutions is not fair as their provisions may be different. We are aware of some just catering for light snacks such as sandwiches and coffee/tea. The cost of catering between this basic provision and full lunch buffet-type meals is hugely different.”
For illustration purposes | Source: Simi-Taiji
Hopefully, the students and college administration will manage to a find a middle ground and solve the matter, especially since their graduation is only a few weeks away.
What do you think of the price of this university’s convocation? Do you think the management had given a reasonable explanation for the issue? Let us know in the comments below!
To all the students graduating this year, congratulations on a job well done!
Also read: This Unimas Student is So Power, She Scored 4.0 GPA & Was On Dean’s List for 7 Semesters
