By Ajifa Treasure Solomon
The Jos University Dental Students Association, JUDENSA, today protested the lack of accreditation of Dentistry in the university nine years after it was officially registered as a professional course. Scores of medical and dental students gathered at the Permanent Site gate for a peaceful demonstration, advocating for a merger of dental and medical programs to ensure timely graduation for the dental students in August.
Despite admitting the first set of dentistry students in 2016 with hopes of getting accredited over time, the University of Jos has yet to realize this goal. Currently, medical students are gearing up for their induction in August. However, the final year dentistry students are not certain about graduation, because unlike the former, they have not been writing any professional exams as they should since their 3rd professional exams in 2021. In fact , they have not been having any serious lectures or clinical postings relevant to their training in dentistry. As such, even though they pay school fees every session, they are doing little to nothing.
Agbaseni Michael Amankye, the President of JUDENSA said that the students had held meetings with the Chancellor, Vice Chancellor, provost of medical college and the dean of faculty to address the matter but nothing substantial had come out of the meetings.
“We have been promised several times that this issue will be resolved soon. We have not done any dental course except oral biology which is a 200 level course. We began this course with the University of Calabar and today, they have graduated two sets, fully accredited. ABU Zaria had this challenge and they converted all dentistry students into medical students,” he said.
The Vice Chancellor, Professor Tanko Ishaya countered the narrative that the management was sitting with their arms folded.
“Last year during the accreditation, 50% of the total amount we spent went into dental surgery. Other departments accused me for doing that but I knew it was a new program and we needed those facilities in order for you to move forward,” he stated.
He also said that the management was working actively to salvage the situation, adding that they had gotten approval from the government to appoint 3 more lecturers into the department. The issues militating against a possible accreditation are allegedly a lack of human resources, to wit, dental lecturers and other relevant instructors; dental laboratories and equipment. In response, the university management appealed to the Governor of Plateau State, Barr. Caleb Mutfwang who graciously heeded the plea and donated lab equipment to the department.
The Vice Chancellor stated that the management had explored the prospect of a merger of Dentistry and Medicine but it was easier said than done. However, the students maintained that it would not be the first time an MBBS and BDS mergence would be taking place, saying it had happened in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and more recently Ahmedu Bello University, Zaria. The association recommended that the first set should be merged to meet up with the graduation date and thereafter, subsequent sets could be fully accredited.
Recall that in February, the Federal Government of Nigeria increased the admission quote for medical schools by 100%. The letter as seen by BusinessDay reads,“Further to our recent Letter on this subject with Ref. No. MDCN/ 1018/Vol. I dated 2nd January 2024, I wish to inform you of the Presidential directive through the Minister of State for Health of the approval for the increment of the Quota of admission into the Medical Schools in Nigeria by 100 percent.”
This quota increment translates to an increase in the number of medical students to be admitted and graduated yearly. Thus, the university of Jos which has previously been admitting and turning out 150 students per session will now increase the number to 300.
The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) which is the professional body monitoring the accreditation of medical and dental colleges stated that to get accredited, a dental college must comply with guidelines, undergo accreditation visits, and meet standards set by the Council, resulting in a five-year accreditation if successful. Per the MDCN website, these involve paying visitation fees ranging from 2.5 to 6.3 million naira. The body also requires an updated list of academic and nonacademic staff, including their qualifications and position in the faculty/hospital as well as a comprehensive list of all functional facilities in the faculty and hospital. The University of Jos has been unable to meet these requirements for the last nine years.
The Vice Chancellor has arranged a meeting with the JUDENSA executives, the first set of nine dental students, the faculty dean, and other key stakeholders to discuss and agree on the next steps. The fate of dental students and their probable graduation now hangs in the balance.
