STUDENT’S TAKE: Will Ndejje’s online fees payment of ZeeVersity be effective?

Ndejje University ICT Department is currently sensitizing students on the new online fees payment portal-ZeeVersity, which the university has adopted so as to replace the old system of using bank slip to pay.

The ICT team headed by Mr Moses Nviri helped students register and enter their bio data into the computerized system.
According to Mr Nviri, the system will increase efficiency in fees payment, it will save time for processing payments and students will be able to update and view their academic and financial statuses online at a click of a button.

ZeeVersity will also be a “gate pass” to access university facilities and services such as meals, Library, lecture rooms as well as medication.

However the ZeeVersity payment system is not yet a welcomed idea to some students and has caused a lot of bickering and unanswered questions. Our Drone Bee talked to some students about the new system  and this is what they said;

A number of students claim the ZeeVersity card renewal fee of Shs 100,000 will increase their tuition yet they do not come from well-to-do families. They say that this will be another financial constraint on top of the high tuition fees.

“How can the university expect us to pay renewal charges of the ZeeVersity cards yearly? That will be adding to our total expenditure. Can’t they use part of our tuition for that or they drop the whole ZeeVersity thing? I do not welcome the innovation basing on my financial perspective,” says Phillip Nyakahuma, a third year student of Civil engineering.

For Carthy Wemesa,  a first year Education student, the new system is meant to drain their pockets.

“I’m not happy with the innovation: they are just here to get more money from us. If the cards are going to be used for accessing university facilities, what if I have not paid all the fees does it mean I will not attend lectures or access any facility like the library?  To me it is cheating because at the end we all have to complete the tuition whether we have used the facility or not,” Wemesa say.

“ I can imagine the cards are going to be renewed at Shs 100,000 per year, that is a lot of money. What then do you think a student will pay in case they lose the card? They might pay over one million as fine for losing the card and replacement. I do not like the ZeeVersity idea,” says Carter Murungi , a third year student of Mass communication at Kampala Campus.

Ayesiga Michelle, a second year student of civil engineering says: “To me it will be great, it will enable fast means of payment and also prevent payment of wrong fees because sometimes I have also made payment of wrong fees because I could not immediately check my remaining balance, I’m sure ZeeVersity will rectify this

However, Mr  Nviri says the ZeeVersity system will elimate any forms of error that arise from miss calculation of marks and tuition fees.

“Students rarely appreciate good things, some are already complaining their personal account verification is not functioning yet they have not even tried logging into their accounts,” Mr Nviri noted.

“Every student will be issued with a smart card which they will use for online fees payment and access university facilities. They will also be able to access their fees balance and academic results from their ZeeVersity accounts”, He adds.