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Controversy as UNILAG, medical students battle admission status

 
Some medical students of the University of Lagos, Akoka, sent to other departments are aggrieved, CHARLES ABAH writes
The Valentine’s Day on Sunday did not fascinate some of the medical students of the University of Lagos. While other students were in a joyful mood, celebrating the lover’s day, no fewer than 50 of the 110 would-be second year medical students of the university wore a mournful look.

For the 50 young men and women, there was no cause for celebration. The story of St. Valentine should be consigned to history until they have been able to ascertain their true admission status with the authorities of the university.
In fact, Kunle (not real name) felt agitated when our correspondent drew his attention to the day set aside for lovers.
With a frown on his face he said, “One whose house is on fire should not be chasing rats. I did not even go to church today because I am thinking of how to survive and you are asking me of the Valentine’s Day. I have a bigger problem on my hands than thinking of celebrating St. Valentine.
“As I speak, my parents and friends at home cannot reconcile that barely a year after registering for Medicine, I have been forcibly transferred to study Physics. They cannot understand my explanation that having passed all my Biological, Chemical and Physical courses, I have yet to proceed to the College of Medicine, Idi-Araba, Lagos to continue my programme.
“My mother is even the most devastated because already her neighbours have started calling her Mama Doctor. So, what would I now be taking home after my stay here to these expectant relatives?”
The story of another medical student, Kelechi, is even more touching. As far as he is concerned, the decision of the university management will cut short his life desire. The 24-year-old has always craved to study Medicine and this explains why, even after obtaining a first degree in Microbiology, he returned to the university to accomplish his loftier dream. That, however, will not be, at least, for now again, as the authorities have transferred him to another department.
The narratives of Kelechi and Kunle are but tips of the iceberg of the challenges that the other 48 medical undergraduates are facing. According to them, only 60 out of the 110 qualified students have been mandated to proceed to CMUL to continue with the programme against the “contract” that they signed with the university in 2014/2015 academic session.
The authorities, they argued, mid way into the game, had changed the goal post. According to them, what the university is currently doing contravenes the “contract” they had with them in the 2014/2015 academic session.
A copy of the Faculty of Science (Pre-Medical and Pre-Pharmacy programmes) 2014/2015 Handbook obtained by our correspondent shows that candidates seeking to move to the second year need to obtain 50 per cent in the three science categories comprising Biological, Chemical and Physical.
It was learnt that these 50 students all scored that minimum requirement but that the management decided to transfer them to other departments in order to meet the National Universities Commission and the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria quota for the college of medicine of the university.
It was also learnt that since 2009, the authorities of the universities has not respected the MDCAN and NUC quota. But that, according to Kunle, will amount to begging the issue. He asked, “Why would the authorities use my set as a guinea pig? If they had told us from day one, it would have been a different ball game. Do you know that some of us abandoned the admissions we secured in countries such as United Kingdom, Ghana and the United States only for UNILAG to keep us now in the lurch? Some of us were in third year in other programmes before making a U-turn to study medicine. So what is our fate now?”
But the feeling of the likes of Kunle seems not to be the worry of the authorities. They are more preoccupied with meeting the aspiration of the regulatory bodies. An electronic statement to our correspondent, entitled, “Cross-Over of students to College of Medicine” and signed by Head of Information Unit at the university, Mr. Toyin Adebule, confirmed this.
It read, “The health profession courses at the College of Medicine are regulated by their professional bodies, and these bodies regulate the numbers to be trained, to ensure the quality of the health workforce, based on the availability of facilities and resources. They all, therefore, have quotas that are applied at the 200 level.
“These quotas are now being enforced by the assignment of student index numbers when they cross over into the professional programmes in the College of Medicine. This year, the professional bodies have insisted on the enforcement of the quota upon which accreditation is hinged and hence the college has had to conform. What this means is that only students that are indexed will be registered by the professional bodies to practise after graduation.
“The Senate at its meeting held on January 27, 2016 had approved the implementation of the re-arrangement to conform to the professional bodies’ quota in order not to lose accreditation. This has regrettably meant that we have only been able to receive students into the college only up to the number the College of Medicine is allowed by the quota.
“We recognise and regret that this has led to some students being unable to cross over into the College of Medicine for their course of choice.”
Besides, many of the victims, mainly UTME candidates, are also accusing the authorities of denying them placement in order to admit diploma students. Because of the huge amount diploma students pay and the IGR the university gets from them, the authorities, it was alleged, would want to make provisions to accommodate their interest.
Appraising the development, the President, Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, Mr. Malachy Ugwummadu, who agreed with the students, noted that adjusting the goal posts mid way into a game was a wrong decision.
Ugwummadu, a lawyer, who described the development as unfortunate, said the university needed to show enough cause why it would transfer medical students to other departments.
He said, “Let us first appreciate that the issues of admission and the conditionality of studentships are largely that of contractual laws, relationships and obligations which are certain. Therefore, the goal posts cannot be changed in the middle of the game unless with the consents of all the parties. In that event, you can technically talk about what we refer to as Novation of Contract in law. Certainly, this never happened, otherwise the controversy would not have arisen in the first place.
“Thus, one needs to appreciate clearly the factual circumstances leading to this situation. If the instruments of admission and the terms are certain and absolute, then the burden will be on the school authorities to produce and show further binding regulatory documents which empower them to transfer the medical students to departments other than the faculty which they applied for and were admitted into. University authorities are creations of law just as they are not above the law and so cannot act arbitrarily.
“But if the students had also executed documents by which their provisional admissions were made subject to other conditions including transfer to other departments in the event of performance below certain standards as an example, then it will be binding and they cannot turn around to complain.”
Corroborating the CDHR boss’ view, another Lagos lawyer, Mr. Yemi Omodele, described the decision of the university as unacceptable and unconstitutional.
Omodele added, “The decision of the university is funny and unacceptable. It is unconstitutional and illegal. A university cannot dictate or compel a student to study a course he or she does not want to study. If it is true that the students are academically qualified and eligible to go to the next stage of medical study, they have cause of action against the authorities of the institution.
“I am aware that every admission to a university or other higher institutions of learning is provisional. Therefore, if the authorities sought the consent of the students before taking the step, my view would be different. But when the school did not do that, I suggest that the students should seek a legal action against the school, claiming adequate compensation.”
source: PUNCH
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