*Students shocked that both the School authority and State Govt refused to look into their plight
Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt
After days of protest by students, the Management of Rivers State College of Health Sciences and Management Technology (RIVCOSTECH) have closed down the institution, thereby shutting down academic activities.
The students had embarked on peaceful protest since on Tuesday, last week over unfavorable learning condition, poor sanitary state of hostels, lack of water and electricity as well as the lack of accreditation of some of their courses being offered by the institution.
But they alleged that the school authority and the state government ignored them through out the five days peaceful protest.
Our correspondent learnt of the closure of the school through a memo signed by the Provost Franklin Nlerum. The students were given asked to vacate the campus by 4 pm of last Saturday.
In the the memo, Dr Nlerum said the school’s management had opted for the measure following the refusal of students to listen to pleas to suspend their protests to give the authorities time to address their grievances.
However, some students who do not want their names in print expressed shock by the hasty decision by the Provost to shutdown the school without any attempt to dialogue with the students to resolve the burning issues that necessitated the protest.
“We have been abandoned by the state government. Would any top official of the state government allow their children to school in our kind of environment we found ourselves where we kill snakes in our hostels? The ladies spend about N10,000 monthly and on drugs for treating toilet diseases. We are neglected and rejected, but school authorities keep admitting students.
“Since last year,we have tried to draw the attention of the school authority and the state government to our plight to no avail. It most unfortunate.”
At the time of filing this report, there has been no any official communication from the state Government on what will become of the school now that it has been closed.