By Mercy Osajigugo
Minna – Dr. Yahaya Madaki, a labour leader, has urged the Niger State Government to support lecturers in the School of Health Technology, Minna to acquire higher certificates so as to enhance service delivery.
Madaki, Chairman of the school’s chapter of the Medical and Health Workers Union, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Saturday in Minna.
“Most of the lecturers in the school want to acquire Masters and doctorate degrees and need scholarship to do that, but the Niger Government does not appear interested in that,” he said.
Madaki said that he was forced to sponsor his studies for a PhD in the University of Malaysia when the government refused his request for support.
“Many of my colleagues that can afford it have gone back to school to acquire higher certificates, but others cannot afford it and have remained helpless,” he said.
Madaki declared that teaching in a health school without training and retraining was dangerous for the health sector.
“Patients need experts that will understand complexities of their ailments and deal with them accordingly. If we cannot train good medics from here, the society will be the worse for it,” he said.
He said that government’s acclaimed commitment to improving the health sector would be a mirage if teachers in medical schools were not supported to learn modern trends in the sector
“As an academic institution, we need grants from government to attend academic workshops, seminars and conferences; the Niger government does not appear interest in that,” he alleged.
He urged government to pay more attention to training to shore up the quality of teaching in the schools.
Madaki also urged government to provide infrastructure at the permanent site of the school, saying that the temporary site had proved too small for any meaningful development.
“You can see that I am sitting in the library; this is my office. I am not supposed to be here but there is no office for me. Many of my colleagues are four or five in one office which is just embarrassing,” he said. (NAN)