Sierra Leone:141 Students withdrawn from COMAHS

By Ishmael Sallieu Koroma

The Acting Deputy Registrar in the College of Medicine, Brima Bah, has said about one hundred and fourteen (114) students at College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences (COMAHS) have been withdrawn from pre-med one and two in the medical course.

Brima Bah made this statement today on SLBC’s Morning Coffee Program where he disclosed that the withdrawn students in the college of Medicine will not be able to continue their Programme at the college.

‘’Those that have c4 and better in all the science subjects in physics, science, math, English  and Biology they will  go to pre- med two . That means they are able to go straight to year 1 medicine,’’ he said, adding that for those in Pre-med 1if they pass they will be going over to pre- med 2.

The Acting Registrar said the criteria to pass from pre-, med 1 to pre –med 2 is that the student should pass all four his or her subjects including math’s, physics, Biology and chemistry adding that the students should passed all the subjects with not less than fifty percent in each of the subjects and at the end of the day the University is looking for an average of 55%minimum to be promoted.

He further said if the student doesn’t meet the requirement  of 55% but have 50% he or she will have the opportunity to repeat in pre-med 1 adding that if the students do not meet of the 50 % in any of the four subjects , the students will be not be able to repeat again .

‘’For pre-med 2, it’s little bit different, the four core subjects which are Biology, Chemistry, math’s and physics .First of all the very first criterion is the students should pass them with not less than 50%, that means you have cleared, but if you failed one of them with 40% or better you will have the opportunity to sit a reference provided the student making 170% average on the three other subjects’’

Mr. Bah further explained that if the student in pre – med 2 failed two subjects of the four the subjects but has an average of 120% of the two other subjects would have an opportunity again to sit to a re-sit exams adding that if at all the students does not fall in these two situations then the students will not be able to re-sit any exams in the pre-med 2 stating that its part of the regulation at the College of Medicine.

When asked whether it is the highest number of withdrawn students at COMAHS, the acting deputy Registrar replied ’’well I didn’t want to say yes, but I think the number is very high really ‘’.

The deputy Registrar said they at college of medicine were there to train doctors and medical people adding that they want to have people that are fit to go through the course and at the end of the day they will be able to live to the job market.

He said all the students affected can meet the authorities in the college and they will have the opportunity for an explanation on their status and grades for their pre –med in the medical course.

The over one hundred withdrawn students from COMAHS have brewed up serious debate about the means through which senior secondary School students acquired their results as most of them cannot defend their colourful results when they are admitted into the university system with some civil society activists advocating for a blanket entrance exams on all faculties into the University Of Sierra Leone.