The change of venue this year for the enrollment of Foundation Studies students at the National University of Samoa (N.U.S.) continues to frustrate parents and students, two days away from the close of registration.

In previous years, the enrollment of new students undertaking the university’s Foundation Studies programme was done in the N.U.S. Gym.

But that changed this year with the registration getting moved to lecture theatres.

Tasha Tulai, a Foundation Studies student who is registered in the tourism and hospitality stream this year, told the Samoa Observer that the N.U.S. Gym had the capacity to become a one-stop-shop for the whole process. 

“It is time consuming, the gym could have been the best place for the registration because everything can be done in one place,” she said. “We’ve been walking around in circles, and we’ve been sent to see different people and we still haven’t got any clue of what we’re doing.”

A parent, who did not want to be identified when interviewed by this newspaper, said spreading out the registration process using different rooms made it a challenging experience for both students and parents. 

“After I registered my two kids in there (lecture room D201), then we had to walk from up there to down here (foyer) to sign up for the courses,” she said.

The four-step registration process is done in the university’s D201 lecture room, before the students proceed to the foyer to sign up for their semester courses. They then go to the computer labs to pick up their invoices, before their identification cards are issued at the university’s bookstore.

A parent, who only identified herself as Mrs Togifeai and was on campus to register her daughter, criticised the decision to change the registration venue.

“This is one big headache to be honest, why can’t they just do it in one place like before? The changing of venue for registration is not good,” she said.

But it was not just the change of the registration venue that upset the mother, who also raised concerns about the cost of some of the university’s courses.

“The school fees is another worry for us as parents, it is very expensive. It is $390 per course and since my daughter is taking computing which costs $490, too much, especially for those families who are not financially stable,” she added.

N.U.S. administration officers refused to comment when approached by this newspaper, saying they were busy with the students’ registration. 

A list of questions was sent through email to the Office of the Vice Chancellor seeking comment, but there was no response at the time of going to press.