Governor Okezie Ikpeazu on Monday says Abia State School of Nursing and Midwifery Umuahia, is the cheapest of its kind in the country.
According to him, students were paying N260,000, before his administration reviewed it downwards to N215, 000, so that it will be easy for parents.
The governor, who disclosed this to newsmen in Umuahia, said it was the reason for its high demand and rush than any state in the country.
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ABN TV reports that some students had reportedly accused the management of the institution of exploitation, while urging the governor’s intervention.
The students had accused the management of inviting admission seekers in excess of slots available in the school and compelled them to pay the sum of N500,000 each as school fees.
They had alleged that after six months, the students would be mandated to pay another N30,000 so that the institution would facilitate admission for them into the university, which never happened.
The governor said that no student was meant to pay any other fees, apart from the one approved by the government.
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.
