UoN Lecturers Strike Over Allowances to Delay Graduation of Med Students
Kenya is on the verge of having a shortage of medics if medical students from the University of Nairobi do not graduate this year. The medical students are around 600 in number.
Lecturers’ conflict with the university over delay in disbursement of their clinical allowances.
Both undergraduate and postgraduate medical students helped, and are still assisting other frontline workers during the coronavirus pandemic. With nobody there to supervise them, they stopped offering their services.
Paralysation of clinical services will happen in institutions where most of the students have been practicing their classwork. This applies especially to institutions like Kenyatta National Hospital and the Mathare Hospital because all departments have stopped working.
“The University of Nairobi produces more than 80% of medical students, if they fail to graduate this year, medical interns will be inadequate in hospitals across the country,” said Dr. Kevin Kiambu, President of the Residents Council at the College of Health Sciences.
Three weeks ago, universities recalled undergraduate students to sit for a mandatory clinical examination through a directive issued by the Ministry of Education. However, lecturers have not attended the students since they resumed.
The class that is yet to graduate has been in medical school for around nine years, will have to wait a little longer if their lecturers will not be paid their dues.
“We do not wish to graduate students if lectures are not paid,” added Dr. Kiambu.
“We have been paying and will continue to do so but we will not pay clinical allowances to lecturers who are not supervising students in the wards and reporting to hospitals to treat patients,” said Prof Kiama. Lecturers on the other hand insist that they have a right to get the clinical allowances and will go to work only when the University Of Nairobi has paid all members of their staff have been paid.
The Chairperson of the Kenya Medical Association, Dr. Were Onyino called for the resignation of Prof Kiama, the vice-chancellor of the institution.
Read also:
Comments are closed.