Students of the School of Nursing in Umuahia Abia State have accused the management of the institution of exploitation, appealing to the State governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu to intervene and bring to an end the malfeasance in the school.
A student who spoke with ABN TV on Thursday on the condition of anonymity said the management of the school under one Mrs. Michael invites admission seekers in excess of slots available in the school.
According to the student, instead of 50 slots allotted for the school, the management will invite about 500 admission seekers and compel them to pay the sum of N500,000 each as school fees.
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The source alleged that after six months, the students will be mandated to pay another N30,000 so that the school will facilitate admission for them into the university, which never happens according to the source.
“Then after six months, they will tell students to go home, that they have failed to pass the compulsory exam to remain in the school, and they will only take 75 students.
“What do they use that money for? They will also claim that it is the government that has told them to admit that number. Is nursing profession for the government people or Nursing Council?
“Now they have released new list of students and parents are selling their lands, spending a lot to put their children in school and after six months, they will suspend them and say they have failed exam.
“Please let this thing be addressed, the Ministry of Health Abia State knows about it”, the source said.
The source urged the school to stop the over-admission of students who will later be laid off.
Reacting to the development, the governor said that no student was meant to pay any other fees, apart from the one approved by the government.
According to him, they were paying N260,000, before we came and we reviewed it downwards to N215, 000, so that it will be easy for parents.
Ikpeazu said: “This is all the students pay, I mean those coming in after Preliminary Training School (PTS).
“No student pays any other fee to the best of my knowledge, except exam fee or when they are going for experience, which is dependent on where they are going.
“It is tuition-free, once you pass PTS.
“Every other state charges between N700,000 to N900,000, yet people there don’t complain.”
Meanwhile, a source in the school management has dismissed the allegation by the students, saying that the school was being guided by standard operating procedure (SOP).
The source told ABN TV that every fund collected from the students goes in the state account.
He explained that there was no way anybody would say that he paid any money to any individual, while challenging anybody who claimed to have done so to come and prove it.
The source said that the process of admitting students into the institution is similar to that the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), whereby millions would purchase the forms, but only few would be admitted eventually.
He said that the examination was being conducted and the cut-off mark prepared by the Council of Nursing at the national in Abuja.
According to the source, once the Council is through with both the entrance examination and oral interview, the list of successful candidates would be published.
“It is neither the principal nor the school management that does this.
“Once you are successful, the Ministry of Health, will issue you an admission letter, just like JAMB does.
“The school is allotted 75 students, but if for instance about 300 persons sat for the examination, is it possible to take everybody?”, the source queried.
