Plateau health students cry out over scholarships

Scholarships are granted to students mostly in tertiary institutions by governments and organizations to support and embolden them in their academic pursuits. Scholarships have helped hundreds of students from low-income families to pursue their academic goals. Though the amounts paid to students vary from place to place, one common phenomenon is that there has always […]

Scholarships are granted to students mostly in tertiary institutions by governments and organizations to support and embolden them in their academic pursuits. Scholarships have helped hundreds of students from low-income families to pursue their academic goals.

Though the amounts paid to students vary from place to place, one common phenomenon is that there has always been growing hitches in the payments and administration.

In Plateau State, government gives students the sum of N5, 000 yearly, to cover their expenses and pursue their studies. The payment is done through the Ministry of Education and coordinated by the National Association of Plateau State Students (NAPSS).

However, despite strident complaints that the money was inadequate to cover student expenses, the payment hasn’t even been regular. In fact, students at public health institutions have reportedly been skipped from the scholarship scheme for 10 years now, following a minor incident.

Our correspondent gathered that the public health students were paid N400 monthly, until there was a massive fraud in the system which made the state government to suspend their programme. The bursary payment was therefore limited to students in universities, polytechnics and colleges of education. Nonetheless, challenges of irregular payment, hectic processes, among others, have continued to dog the system.

Speaking recently at the inauguration ceremony of the newly elected NAPSS executives at College of Health Technology, Zawan, Plateau State, NAPSS National President Pankop Jilang, said the way and manner successive administrations exempted students in public health schools from bursary awards had been alarming and discouraging regardless of the reason.

The president explained, however that effort was being made to persuade the government to resume scholarship payments to public health students, pointing out that the students have rendered selfless services to the society and that their welfare should be the government’s top priority.

A former NAPSS president, Enoch John Vilret, told our correspondent that he had earlier pleaded with government to increase the allowance from N5,000 to something substantial as in other states but without success.

He said the association had to struggle and move from one government office to another to get scholarships released every year.

Vilret, who graduated from the Federal College of Education, Pankshin, said students had to stage peaceful protests at a point before they got their monies, adding that students schooling in other states usually suffered the most.

Those students, he said, will have to obtain and complete forms, be screened/interviewed and get pin numbers.

On the problem leading to the exclusion of health students from the bursary, Vilret said, “During our time we begged the government to return the health students back into the bursary scheme, but without success.

“There was a problem actually. During Governor Joshua Dariye’s administration, there was a fraud by those in the Ministry of Health handling the bursary award, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) even invited them. Since then the government stopped their payment.

“Each health student was usually paid N400 per month and theirs was called Point 4 and not bursary. Before I left, I succeeded in getting the health schools recaptured into the scheme, but till date it has not been implemented.

“The affected health institutions are College of Health Technology, Zawan, College of Health Pankshin, College of Nursing in Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) and College of Nursing in Vom.”

He called on the government to reconsider its stand on the health institutions and to also increase the amount being paid students because the current N5,000 cannot solve the educational needs of students.

A student of the Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation Sciences of the University of Jos, Gyang Kaneng Juliet, said she never received the scholarship or cared to apply because the stress involved was much.

She said it was better to concentrate on her studies than waste time and resources going through difficult processes, adding that the amount was insufficient and often diverted students’ attention.

The NAPSS Director of Sports and final year student in the Physical and Health Education Department in the University of Jos, Damak Joseph, said the payment challenge was not peculiar to Plateau State and was not new in the country.

Joseph, who is also the Chief of Staff to the President of the University of Jos Student Union Government (SUG), said even the payment the students got this year was that of 2015/2016 academic session, pointing out that those of 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 academic sessions were yet to be paid.

He said the N5,000 grant should be reviewed upward because the amount has been in place since the 1990s and that such amount was insufficient. He said students have continuously appealed to government to review the payment,

When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Education, Ezekiel Akpukudu, said the secretary of the scholarship board that would provide the information about scholarships in the state was not around.