Authorities of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) have stated that there was no plan to scrap the part-time programme being run by the University. This clarification was made by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Olusola Oyewole, recently at an interactive meeting with students and officials of the programme. Represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Professor Adekojo Waheed, he said there were no plans to cancel part-time courses. “Your programme is valid. We admitted you and we can’t leave you mid-way. Our Vice-Chancellor has your interest in his mind. We pray that all of you excel in life to become governors, ministers, captains of industries, among others”, he stated.

The Vice-Chancellor said at the moment, the programme was being re-organised for better results in line with the official regulations by the National Universities Commission (NUC). According to him, “We are running in line with the guidelines of NUC as we already got approval to continue to run the part-time programme. We are not running illegally”. He further disclosed that the part-time programme had now been placed under the Office of the Vice-Chancellor for better supervision. The Vice-Chancellor also debunked the rumour that the University had taken a decision to increase tuition fees, assuring the students that there was no cause for worry. He added that as approved by the Senate of the University, the 2013/2014 Academic Session for the part-time degree programme would commence on Friday, July 18, 2014, beginning with the registration of students.

The well-attended interactive meeting afforded the part-time students an ample opportunity to ask several questions that were comprehensively answered by the Vice-Chancellor. One of them, Mrs. Oluwafunmilayo Agemo, a 500-level student in the Department of Food Science and Technology, commended the University for deeming it fit to address them as well as making concerted efforts at improving the quality of the programme. The outgoing Coordinator of the Part-Time Programme, Dr. Samsudeen Iposu lauded the maturity displayed by the students and expressed his confidence that the programme will continue to run normally without any hindrance. Also present at the interactive meeting were the Director, Academic Planning, Dr. Olukayode Akinyemi; and the new Coordinator for the Programme, Dr. Israel Osunsina.