Some 100-level medical students at the
University of Lagos have urged a Federal High Court in Lagos to quash
the decision of the university’s Senate, which allegedly changed the
academic requirement needed by them to proceed to 200-level.
The students, numbering about 31,
claimed that the decision taken by the university’s Senate on January 27
was “an attempt to weed them out of the university.”
Already, the case has been assigned to Justice Sule Hassan, who has fixed hearing for Tuesday (today).
The students accused the university of
raising the academic requirement in order to accommodate diploma
students, who allegedly paid N500,000 to the institution’s College of
Medicine.
The aggrieved students, through their
lawyer, Mr. Jiti Ogunye, therefore, urged the court to declare the
Senate decision as a nullity.
They, among others, also sought an order of certiorari “removing and reviewing the decision.”
The students explained that they were
admitted to the university in the 2014/2015 academic year to
studyMedicine and Surgery, Dentistry, Medical Laboratory Science,
Nursing, Physiotherapy, Pharmacology, Physiology and Radiography.
According to them, their admission
followed their successful performance in the Unified Tertiary
Matriculation Examination and the post-UTME set by the university.
They claimed that upon being admitted to
the university, the academic requirements they needed to proceed to the
second year were clearly stated in the Faculty of Science pre-Medical
and Pharmacy Programmes 2014-2016 Information Handbook made available to
them.
They added, “The said revision was not
carried out with noble and genuine intentions to enhance academic
standards in the MBBS and other medical programmes in the College of
Medicine.
“It was also not for the reason of
adherence to the admission quota of either the National Universities
Commission or of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria for the MBBS
in the College of Medicine, (which is 150 for the College of Medicine).
“It was for the purpose of creating
admission spaces for foundational course students who are given (or more
appropriately sold) admission into the MBBS and other medical
programmes upon participating in a one-year programme organised by a
Joint Unified Preliminary Examination Board for which they paid to the
university a minimum total fee of N400,000 per session.
“The said payment is part of the
internally generated revenue of the university, a stream of revenue
which has attracted wide criticism in the university system in Nigeria,
for lack of transparency and accountability in its management.”
0 comments:
Post a Comment