According to Premium Times, the Association of Provosts Colleges of Medicine (APCOM) following a meeting held on September 18, approved N75,000.00 for the 200 – 300 level students and N85,000.00 for 400 – 600 level students per academic session as professional training fees.

While addressing the students on Wednesday,  October 17, 2018, the Provost of the University's College of health sciences,  T.K Ijadunola said the N85,000 levy is as a result of the financial challenges facing all federal colleges of medicine, including OAU.

He said, “The current training of medical students is bankrolled by alumni, friends and staff of the college and this isn’t exclusive to Ife, it is the same in all federal government owned schools. Fatigue is beginning to set in. It’s high time students and parents began to have a say in the training by putting their money where their mouth is.”

However, after a series of meetings held by nursing, medical and dental students, Premium Times reports that the students rejected the levy.

A student, Adeoba Oluwafemi who spoke with the new platform said most students who attended the meeting said ‘NO’ to the introduction of the professional fee, adding that they won’t see the effect of the money they are being asked to pay.

“A few suggested that the meeting should not be between the provost and the student or student leaders, rather, the meeting should be between the provost/college and the parents/guardians of the students, knowing fully well that it’s the parent who is paying the school fee, not the students.”

Another medical student, Agbaje Tosin reportedly said students were totally against the proposed fee, adding that they might still have to pay the fee.

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“The students will eventually have to pay for the professional training fees but the amount is not known yet, although 85k is the benchmark stated by the provost in the meeting.”

UI medical students also protested against the fee in April

Recall that in April 2018, medical students of the University of Ibadan protested against the introduction of the same training fee.

The Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof Idowu Olayinka in an interview with Pulse the professional training was necessary for the students.

''Apart from this, the medical students have to do some professional courses and they also have to do fieldwork, and the university is finding it unbearable to support them. And if they don't do these things, we will end up producing half-baked graduates. We won't get accredited either by the  NUC or by any relevant professional bodies like a Nigerian Medical and Dental Council, the Council of Engineers in Nigeria and many other professional bodies.'' he said.