The Rivers State House of Assembly has passed into law the bill seeking to upgrade the State College of Health Sciences to an institution of higher learning.
The college will henceforth award higher certificates and enjoy other privileges as other higher institutions in the State.
The Majority Leader, Hon. Martin Chike Amaewhule had earlier noted the need to position the college to be able to access all the funding accruable to higher Institutions in the country.
Victoria Nyeche, Deeyah Barieene, Friday Nke-ee, Dike Matthew, Christian Ahiakwo, and Innocent Barikor while supporting the upgrade of the institution said the college should be under the Ministry of Education instead of the Ministry of Health in order to properly fit into the educational sector.
They maintained that upgrading the status of the State College of Health Sciences will boost employment opportunities while generating middle level manpower for the state, adding that it will further afford new course of study which will increase entrepreneurship.
The lawmakers while calling for the passage of the bill into law regretted that there has been confusion in the status and identity of the staff of the college as they were reporting to both the ministry of health and environment yet belonged to none of them, stressing that with the upgrade, the products of the institution will no longer be seen as mere sanitary inspectors.
They further said that the upgrade will improve the curriculum content while conforming it in line with the present day expectations.
While passing the bill into law, the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Ikuinyi Owaji Ibani said that the upgrade would benefit generations to come, widen the scope of the college and attract middle level manpower.
The bill was sponsored by Hon. M. O. Chinda and would soon be forwarded to the state governor for his assent.
