The Afe Babalola University medical students have express their dejection and infuriation towards the newly increased school fees and also about the way they have been treated since their arrival at the university.
The students said they have been extorted and treated with serious nonexistence. In a Statement made available to pressmen they said "When it comes to the payment of school fees we are the only college that pays most but when it comes to materializing fund we get less."
Over the period of years we have lived in a shadow of who is to be called a medical student. We don't even have our own college because with the situation and presentation of things in the college we are technically "squatting".
We pay more tuition fee than students of basic sciences but we still attend the same classes same goes for 100L students who are even called "science students" but pay extravagant amounts of tuition fees.
When other colleges get to have air conditioners in their classes all we get are ceiling fans.
It is also seen by us that the new increment of school fees of the prospective clinical student is preposterous and ludicrous.
Any of us will admit that we are actually expecting increment in the school fees since this is a new step in our training and also for the fact that we will be staying in a two bedded room but for Christ sakes tuition fee of ₦1,250,000 is ridiculous and labelled an act of sadism.
We perfectly understand that there should be an increment that should not be forgotten as stated earlier but increment from ₦750,000 to ₦1,250,000 is too much. Research has been conducted by us on the increment of school fees from pre-clinical to clinical in the U.S (which is the reference point in medical practice) and it was noted that the mean increment in five universities is about $1225 which in Naira is about ₦200,000 and that is for universities that bother increasing school fees some pay the same throughout preclinical's and clinical level and this is a country with a better economy and higher tax rate.
Most of us are even the first the first born of our parents which technically means we are not the only ones in school and even after all this we still have other and lots of things to buy including new textbooks which will cost a fortune and also gadgets that will be used in our clinical experience including stethoscopes and sphygmomanometer which are will also cost us a lot.
This is the amount paid over the years which doesn't include eating and textbooks and we all know medical textbooks are expensive.
Year 1
₦925,000
Year 2
₦945,000
Year 3
₦1,125,000
Year 4
₦1,775,000
In the breakdown of the school fees there are variables we don't even get ourselves involved in and we still pay for them like the sport fee, library fee, ICT and others since we don't need them why pay for them.
The students hereby make a plea saying:
Our tuition fee (including clinical and preclinical's) is set with utmost equity.
Those variables are also set with utmost equity.
Installment payments are officially allowed.
If the management insists on paying tuition fee different from those of basic medical sciences then our classes should not be held together.
We will be grateful if our pleas are granted. Thanks
And if this is not treated with utmost priority after pleading with the founder of the university we will have to take action.
