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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