In a document obtained by the ABH Press, the University Ibadan College of Medicine has set up a committee to oversee matters pertaining to the Health Professional Training Levy. This was contained in a memo from the office of the secretary to the college. The first item on the memo’s terms of reference is to review the levy for recommendations on modifications. With this, the college hopes to “ensure training standards continue to improve”.
Quoting from the memo, other items on the list are as follows:
- Put a mechanism in place to regularly review the HPTL to ensure its fairness and adequacy for the training needs.
- Monitor the use of HPTL to ensure that it is apportioned and used appropriately.
- Make other recommendations with regards to financing for CoMUI to ensure a world class education for students.
The said committee is to be headed by Professor A.O Fasola of the department of Maxillofacial Surgery. Also present on the committee are the subdeans of the faculties of dentistry, Undergraduate nursing & physiotherapy, undergraduate MBBS, and basic medical science.
Various student department leaders are also present on the committee but designated “in attendance”. While it is pretty vague what their role will be, it suggests that they are there because they should be aware of what is going on. This does not necessarily mean they would be involved in decision-making.
Recall that the Health Professional Training Levy was introduced in 2018, which prompted student resistance in the popular #Noto100k protests that led to school closure for about eight weeks.
