BENIN CITY – Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki has expressed government’s determination to revamp health training institutions and provide the required capacity and infrastructure to boost primary healthcare system in the state.
This came the fore when the Governor embarked on an inspection tour of the Edo State School of Health Technology, State School of Nursing and State School of Midwifery all in Benin City Friday.
Speaking during an inspection visit to Edo State School of Health Technology and the State School of Nursing and Midwifery, Governor Obaseki declared that government is ready to revive the health institutions which are now in moribund state.
At the State School of Health Technology, the Governor interacted with the Vice Principal, Mrs Tracy Omorogiuwa just as he also interacted with Mrs Patricia Osazuwa and Mrs Mabel Omobude Principals of State School of Midwifery and State School of Nursing respectively.
Addressing the students and staff of Edo State School of Health Technology, Benin City, Governor Godwin Obaseki said, “In terms of your school fees, I will look into the fees and find out what the issues are, and how come you are paying sixty six thousand.”
Governor Obaseki asked the principal of the two health institutions to come to the Government House for a meeting on Tuesday next week. “The principal, can we meet on Tuesday in my office with the breakdown of their school fees, and in fact with account of the school? We are going to make sure that we come and fix your leaking roofs and improve the state of your classrooms and hostels. For your clinic, something will be done about it next week.”
He said government will provide a hospital for the Edo State School of Health Technology to enable them do their practical training and that government will work with a regulatory body to review the curriculum of the institution. “But more importantly, I am going to get Ikpoba Okha Local Government to come and build a hospital in this premises, so that you can have somewhere you can train and receive practical training also. In the meantime, I want all of you to take your work seriously because you know we are expanding our primary healthcare system. We are going to have a regulatory body and I will work with the regulatory body for us to review your curriculum to make sure that we give you the best quality training to take care of our primary healthcare system.”
Earlier, a female medical laboratory technology student of the State School of Health Technology, Ugo Iro-Olughu who addressed the Governor said, “What we just want to complain about in the school is our school fee that was increased some time ago. We want it to go back to how it was before. We also want some other things in the school, like our health centre in the school which is not functioning at all. Most of us, when we are ill, we normally go home for treatment. And we have already paid most of the money in our school fees. So, sometimes, we go there but the person that is always there doesn’t allow us to come inside. The school fee for year two is sixty six thousand naira.”
A male 300 level Community Health student of School of Health Technology, Jakah Daniel also said, “One of the problems we are encountering in this institution is the problem of accommodation. We have students who are unable to get accommodation outside. The school has a hostel but the rooms available are not enough for the number of students the school admits yearly. Then the second thing is the problem of autonomy. There are some other schools of health technology in other states that are autonomous. So, we want this school to be like those schools that are autonomous. And we still need more infrastructure. The clinic we have in this institution does not have all the things we need to practice. We don’t have the things to carry out those processes. So, when we go out for practical, those things are new to us. We also have problem of classrooms. We don’t have chairs and in some of the classrooms, the roofs are leaking.”
The Governor was accompanied on the visit by the Secretary to the State Government, Hon. Osarodion Ogie Esq. the Chief of Staff, Edo State Government, Mr. Taiwo Akerele and the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr. Peter Ugbodaga who conducted the Governor round the different schools.
