By Ibrahim Muhammad, Kano The Provost of Sardauna College of Health Science and Technology, Hajiya Naja'atu Abdullahi, has...
By Ibrahim Muhammad, Kano
The Provost of Sardauna College of Health Science and Technology, Hajiya Naja'atu Abdullahi, has explained the reasons behind the establishment of the institution.
Hajiya Naja'atu said the college was established to address the shortage of health workers, particularly female health workers in Northern Nigeria. She said in the past, when you visit hospitals in the North, you hardly find Hausa female health workers.
She said this situation inspired her childhood ambition. "When we were children, when asked what we wanted to become, we would say we want to become doctors. At that time we didn't know there were different categories of doctors - anyone seen giving drugs or injection was simply called a doctor," she said.
She noted that despite some progress, the gap is still not filled. According to her, due to cultural values in the North where women prefer to be attended to by fellow women, especially on issues of shyness and privacy, there is a need to train more female health personnel.
"If you observe, when you go to the hospital, before you see one man, you will see five women and children. They are more in need of hospital services. If a female patient is attended to by a female doctor, she will be more comfortable and will be able to disclose things she would otherwise hide," she explained.
She said this informed the college's policy of giving priority to female admission. "Even now, if you look at our admission list, we give more encouragement to women."
Hajiya Naja'atu Abdullahi also said the college prioritizes students from rural areas.
"Local governments within Kano metropolis have many doctors and nurses, but when you go to the rural areas, they are very few. If you train people from rural communities, after graduation they will return home. Even if they get married there, they will stay and work there. That way, you will not have the current gap where there are many personnel in the city and almost none in the rural areas," she said.
On affordability, she said Sardauna College is among the most affordable health institutions. She said the college has a flexible payment plan where students don't have to pay school fees at once, but can pay in two or three installments in the first, second and third year, depending on whether the course is for two or three years.
She disclosed that during the recent convocation and commissioning ceremony, two organizations offered scholarships to about ten students. "We screened and identified vulnerable students who passed their WAEC but have no means to further their education despite having intelligence and brilliance, and we gave them the scholarships. We are still reaching out to philanthropists to sponsor more."
The Provost of the Sardauna College.Hajiya Naja'atu Abdullahi added that health colleges are not licensed without a hostel facility. "The regulatory bodies must come and confirm that you have a hostel, because this is primary healthcare training. We want students from rural local governments to come and reside. That is why every government in Kano, including the present administration of Abba Kabir Yusuf, has to recruit many health workers to fill this gap."
In his remarks, Ambassador Anas Dahiru, who is in charge of admission screening at the college, said the college currently runs courses in Community Health, Medical Laboratory, Dispensing Optic and Health Information Management (HIM).
He explained that Community Health includes midwifery and delivery services at hospitals, while Medical Lab personnel are responsible for laboratory tests.
On admission requirements, he said the process is not cumbersome. "If you have your WAEC or NECO result, primary and secondary school certificates and indigene certificate, you can purchase the form and follow the admission procedures."
He added that the college has separate hostels for male and female students and well-equipped laboratories for teaching health science and technology courses.
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