The Vice Chancellor of University of Medical Sciences, (UNIMED), Ondo, Prof. Adesegun Fatusi, has urged the Federal and state government to consolidate on the existing universities in the country, rather than creating or establishing new ones.
Fatusi who stated this on Wednesday in Ondo during the news briefing to herald the 10th anniversary of UNIMED noted the detrimental impact of proliferation in the number of institutions on the quality of education.
He however, advocated for an immediate halt to the establishment of new universities, saying running an effective and quality university required a lot of funds.
He said, “the existing universities in the country should be attended to properly to gain their ground in the world.
“The truth is that, you cannot train medical doctors, dentists without some resources, and resources have to come from somewhere.
“That is why I urge Federal Government and state governments to fund their universities appropriately instead of creating new ones.
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“The Ondo State Government is trying its best, but we need more. For the private universities, it is their money but they must be regulated.
“Many private universities have very low numbers of students and they will die naturally later because they can’t run them.
“A university is not for business and not for profit making, but to make impacts and better the nation,”
According to him, UNIMED’s tuition fee is relatively affordable and low compared to some universities’ tuition fees in the country.
“The reason why we can’t charge high fees is because of the subsidy we get from government. If we are not getting those subsidies, we’ll be charging at par with the other universities,” he said.
Fatusi explained that despite the subventions from the state government, the university still partnered with individuals and institutions within and outside the country in funding its academic activities.
He added that the university’s policies encouraged scholars to carry out their research within and outside the country
“Every partnership is an opportunity to get that kind of support from the state government. I want to thank the state government, for the support we are getting. We’ve had some very exciting support from the state government.
“The state government itself has ( its own limitations. I mean, to be honest with you, it’s tough. But the government has continued to support us and continue to be committed to us,” he added.
Speaking on the achievements of the institution especially in the terms of infrastructural development, he said “it was really interesting that at least half of those structures were from our efforts.
“So, in the last four years, we have at least 17 structures, in the last four years, across our campuses.
“And I’m not counting just all of them. The small, small ones I left out. But 17 of them and we will continue to build those structures.
“And that’s how you can train more people. That’s how you can get more spaces for students and we’ll continue to work on that so that we can be better positioned in the future.
“We have more than enough students who want to come to university and study nursing. You can’t even take all of them.
“When we started, in 2020, we were approved to train only 50 students. Today, we are approved to train 200 students.
“In fact, we have to go for 400, because by the time the government announced that they want to double, we already were at 200 and that’s because as the regulatory bodies come and look at our facilities, they are seeing consistent improvement and development. In the facilities, they are seeing consistent increase in the number of teachers.
“They are seeing consistent increase in the kind of training and equipment and materials, that’s why we are going to grow over time.
The Vice Chancellor stated that the university has supported its host community in various ways, particularly by providing medical care and offering scholarships to select brilliant but indigent students.
The university actively monitors students, conducting periodic checks regarding drug consumption.
Some students have been expelled over the past ten years for violating the institution’s rules.
Prof. Fatusi further informed that all courses offered by the university are fully accredited by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and other regulatory bodies.
He also stated that the university is focused on developing traditional medicine to international standards, with a particular emphasis on herbal medicine and drug discovery.
The VC explained that UNIMED had made a headway among African universities in the last 10 years, stating that the institutions running 59 academic programmes had introduced new programmes which were not run in other universities in the country.
He also pointed out that the institution had graduated three sets of doctors, dentists and nurses within the 10 years of its existence, an accomplishment that was unprecedented in the history of medical education in the country.
The don posited that alongside the subventions from the state government, the university partnered with individuals and institutions within and outside the country in funding its academic activities.
Fatusi said that the university’s policies encouraged scholars to carry out their research works within and outside the country.
NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
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