The Rivers State Government has approved a grant to upgrade and revamp the Rivers State College of Health Science, Rumueme, the state Commissioner for Health, Prof. Chike Princewill has said.
While speaking at the public hearing of the Rivers State College of Health Science and Management Technology Bill 2018 held on Thursday, Chike said the state government was poised to rehabilitate and upgrade the school to modern standards.
The commissioner for health said though funds were yet to be released, however, every plan was set to commence once the funds are released.
He noted that the move to change the supervisory ministry to education was ill-conceived and would not augur well in the future.
Chike maintained that the training of health professionals such as being done in the Rivers State College of Health Science should be the reserve of professionals in the health sector.
He said, “The training of health professionals is sensitive and need to be regulated… If you are not well trained you cannot practice”.
Clarifying his position on whether the college should be upgraded to a polytechnic status, in order to meet current challenges, Chike insisted that he was not against such move but rather, “moving the supervisory ministry elsewhere will decimate the health sector. It will be detrimental”.
Though the health commissioner took an exclusive position on the bill, Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Ikuinyi-Owaji Ibani while speaking through the Majority Leader, Hon. Martin Amaewhule at the event submitted that, “We do acknowledge the importance of the bill because it will enhance the status of the institution to attain greater height”.
The same view was expressed by Chairman, House Committee on Education, Dr. Farah Dagogo, who said the bill was timely.
“A critical examination of the bill leaves no one in doubt as to its potency in setting in motion a series of legislative, legal and administrative machineries that would revolutionalise the institution towards achieving health science and management technology education in the state”, Dagogo emphasised.
