Over 500 nursing students face suspension ‘with hard labour’

The nursing students at the Independence Square

On May 18th, 2015, eight Metro Mass Transit buses arrived in Accra from the Dunkwa-On-Offin in the Central Region carrying in their bowels angry students of the Nursing and Midwifery Training College there.

The students said all attempts to get their allowances paid to them proved futile and they came to picket at the Independence Square. They vowed they would not go back until their allowances were paid.

The Minister of Health, Mr. Alex Segbefia, met with them and they agreed to go back with the assurance that the allowances would be paid. They left in the evening of May 19th. The students are still in talks with the minister and they are happy with the progress that is being made.

But their decision to go to Accra to demand their allowance did not go down well with authorities of the Dunkwa-On-Offin Nursing and Midwifery Training College. The school authorities said the students did not get a written approval before embarking on the journey to Accra. A letter signed by the Board Chairman of the School, Nana Addai Gyambra, has prescribed a number of punishments for the students.

The Letter from the Board Chairman

The Letter from the Board Chairman

The students are to “write an apology letter to the school’s Management, Board members, Stakeholders Association Executives, Nananom and the Minister of Health,” the letter states.

“Your are required to sign a bond to be of good behavior,” the letter continued, adding that the “first two requirements are to be met by June 18, 2015, 12:00p.m. prompt.”

One student told me the above orders have not been obeyed because the school authorities did not communicate their decision directly to the students. The authorities gave the letters to three students but the three have refused to announce the decision to their affected colleagues. They say they do not understand why the school authorities would not communicate the suspension directly to the students.

“If the school authorities have information for students, they always assemble the entire students and announce it to them. If they mean what they are saying then they should come and tells us,” a student said.

The over 500 students were also to undergo “two weeks of internal suspension with hard labour ie. 19th-26th June and the second week starting from 10th -17th July 2015,” the statement said.

This is not likely to happen because the students have not yet been informed about the suspension.

The statement further warns that “for the outgoing students, failure to comply with these directives with immediate effect will compel the school to revoke their registration to take part in the impending final state diploma licensing examination and for the continuing students, the rest will follow.”

The students say they are being victimized because their action was interpreted as making the government unpopular.

“We explained to the Minister of Health that we did not intend it that way and he said he understood us,” a student said. “We therefore do not understand why the school authorities do not want to understand us.”

The school authorities could not be reached for comments beyond what was contained in the letter.