Trainees sue Yamfo College of Health over accreditation ‘deception’

The future of over 230 Physician Assistant students at the College of Health in Yamfo would be in jeopardy over the accreditation of the school.

The students have therefore placed an injunction on the College at the Sunyani High Court to stop examinations until the accreditation issues are solved.

The students are from Level 100 to Level 300 and they are expected to go to court on Thursday, September 5, 2019, for the first hearing of the case.

Counsel for the students Lawyer Alexander Amponsah, in an interview with Onua FM’s Yen Sempa on Friday explained that “the College of Health (Yamfo) is a Ministry of Health Training School which was established in 2015 and every semester, [students] pay school fees to the Ministry of Health”.

“The first batch of students will finish school in September 6, 2019. All this while students were told the institution has a full accreditation from National Accreditation Board. Moreover, at the school’s website it is indicated that the Physician Assistantship Program is regulated by the Medical and Dental Council”.

But Lawyer Amponsah said “in just about a month to finish school, the school authorities called all final year Physician Assistant students and informed them that the school is now in the process of getting accreditation”.

“It’s a total deception,” he stressed.

“A similar incident happened at Kintampo and as we speak two batches of students are home without certificates and jobless. Their acting Principal by then who during his administration allowed them to suffer this way is now at College of Health, Yamfo, as the acting Principal,” he explained.

The Counsel said “from a list of schools affiliated to the University of Cape Coast, College of Health-Yamfo is not part, yet the school authorities keep telling students the institution is fully affiliated to the University of Cape Coast. Moreover, it is even written as College of Health-Yamfo website”.

He explained that “information shared by one of the school authorities is that the University of Cape Coast has temporarily revoked their mentorship for the College of Health, Yamfo due to the fact that the College does not have National Accreditation Board’s certification. This was an instruction from NAB to UCC”.

“Students upon hearing the sad story decided to write a petition to appropriate stake holders including the Ministry of Health-Yamfo and the school authorities were strictly against that move. The reason for this was something the students did not know,” he explained.

Lawyer Amponsah noted that “what it means is that, at the end of the four years study, students would have no certificate and they cannot proceed in the academic ladder or work in the profession which they hoped for. Students who have decided to take this matter on have been tagged and being victimized by some individuals in authority”.

He said “their grievances are accumulating, and their story is very sad. The public needs to share their sentiments, the life of over hundred students are being jeopardized. Some parents are becoming agitated, and a lot more are hopeless”.

Lawyer Amponsah is therefore calling on the government and other stakeholders to come to the aid of the students to avert jeopardizing their future.

“The government of Ghana and all other relevant stakeholders who have a role to play in this process should come on board as a matter of urgency else they are hitting streets and demonstrating massively coming week,” he warned.