Ebonyi College of Health holds 9th matriculation ceremony

 

By Victor Nwegede

Ebonyi State College of Health Sciences and Technology, Ngbo on Thursday held the 9th matriculation ceremony for the admission of the students into the regular education programme of the institution.

Speaking during the event at the school premises, Ngbo in Ohaukwu Council Area of Ebonyi State, Governor David Nweze Umahi charged the matriculants to be committed with their academic activities to make their parents proud.

Umahi being represented by the state Commissioner for Education, Dr. Onyebuchi Chima pledged his administration's continuous commitment in fine-tuning the school with assurance on making the major challenges facing the institution a thing of the past.

Also, Dr. Michael Urom, who represented the state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Daniel Umezurike and his counterpart for Education,  assured that their ministries would do everything possible to advance the school, as they urged the students to live up to the expectation.


Earlier, the Pioneer Acting Provost of the college, Mr. Stephen Nwamkpuma expressed joy over the matriculation ceremony, and described it as an old academic ritual that sees the formal induction of the new students into academic system. 

Mr. Nwamkpuma said the matriculants cut across the three departments of the school including Community Health, Health Information and Environmental Health.

He disclosed that the students of Community Health, JCHEW will further be subjected to indexing screening to select the quota by the regulatory board.

Giving the background of the school, the  Provost hinted: "Our institution has existed nearly fourteen years now, at the twilight of Dr. Sam Ominyi Egwu's  leadership as the first Civilian Executive Governor of Ebonyi State. The first set of students were admitted for 2007/2008. In 2007, the college then operated as the school with a temporal administrative office at Ngbo Court area inherited from Ngbo Development Centre Headquarters.

"The college gradually relocated to the permanent site barely after the inception, three departments existed of which community Health and Health Information have secured full accreditation whereas Environmental Health Department is yet to secure any form of accreditation."

He added: "Presently, the state government led by Chief Engr. David Nweze Umahi aggressively embarked on the construction of wonderful structures for the college; two building six gigantic solar edifice has also been completed and waiting for commissioning too. According to the engineer, the solar power if well taken care of, can supply light even around the host community."

He enumerated challenges facing the institution which include non-accreditation of Environmental Health Department, lack of perimeter fencing, problems of college gate/ insecurity houses.

In collaboration with him, the President of the Student Union Government, SUG, Comrade Awoke Abel Nwogbaga, decried the porous nature of the school premises.

The duo further said the institution is battling with other challenges on "landscaping/drainage of the college premises, essential vehicles to ease movement of key officers, procurement of students' bed, construction of college clinic/demarcation room for both community health and health information management, and renovation/equipping of college library."

Other challenges enumerated facing the school are how to equip of 'medical laboratory and college pharmacy, compensation of the occupants whose college land affected their residence, construction and equipping of college auditorium, construction of model health records demonstration room for practical teaching, standby big generator setfor power supply, six additional staff (tutors) each for health records and community health, brining in more two departments to increase the revenue generation and granting of subvention to the institution.'