The Director General of the National Commission on Higher Education, Dr. Michael Slawon has disclosed here that the commission has no statistics on Chinese universities and colleges that Liberian students are nominated to for foreign studies.
Speaking to the New Dawn Tuesday in his office at the Ministry of Education in Monrovia, Dr. Slawon said as the result, the Government of Liberia, especially the Commission on Higher Education is not aware whether those universities and colleges are accredited by the Chinese government to offer those post graduate degrees.
He noted that there are some institutions of higher learning that are not accredited by the government of that country as they are only intended for business purpose and money making.
But in the case of Liberia, the Chinese scholarships provided to her Liberian counterpart is on bilateral basis, creating the gap for his commission and other relevant institutions within the government sector here to make further counter check on universities and colleges in China.
Dr. Slawon lamented that this is appalling and detrimental to the existence of Liberians, noting that Chinese graduate medical practitioners are returning to the country to serve in the medical sector to display their expertise on the lives of Liberians.
He revealed that report from China indicates that foreign medical students from Liberia are not allowed to do their practical in Chinese hospitals because the Chinese government does not trust their level of experience.
Dr. Slawon's comments are in the wake of concern raised by the Chairperson of the Liberia Medical and Dental Council (LMDC) Professor Robert Kpoto that most Liberian medical students from China under perform.
Recently, the Liberia Medical and Dental Council (LMDC) called on the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOHSW) and the Ministry of Education to place a hold on awarding scholarships to medical students for study in China. Speaking at a news conference in Monrovia on Monday, Professor Kpoto said medical practitioners graduating from Chinese medical schools are below expectation.
According to him, this could be attributed to the selection process of students benefiting from such scholarship program, which may have not been executed properly.
Hear Prof. Kpoto: "Medical practitioners graduating from Chinese medical schools are performing below expectation. They are even incomparable with doctors who are here. I mean, they are failure and something must be done about this."
"I want to think that something might have gone wrong in the selection and vetting processes of these students, who have been given scholarship to study medicine in China," said Prof. Kpoto.
He said meanwhile recommended that the LMDC should form part of the entire selection and vetting processes in order to get the right students for such foreign studies, particularly in the medical profession.
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It is unfortunate that such statement will come from the mouth of people who we think should be an example. I am one of the medical students now studying in china. The real story, I believe was not told or was not told by the right person. we have on numerous occasions asked the GOL to allow(provide tickets for student expecting to graduate)to go home and do their interns and come back to graduate. This country(china) is not like liberia where any tom and dick can just go in the hospital in the name of being a doctor to tough patients. What do I mean by this; the programs here only allow masters or specialized practioners to see patients, as such, almost all the liberian here are doing first degrees in medicine and so we are not allowed to tough patients/practice. We have said this thousand times that medicine is not Theory alone, but the major part of it is practice in the hospital. I heard the same Dr saying the students who did chemistry are performing very well upon their returns. can some just think while is it so? Does Dr kpoto and others think that the students studying in liberia are more smart then us here? the answer is simple, Gol should stop hiding behind 'no money no money'. The lives that will be saved by these students if more than the money you will used to transport them back to do their interns.
Cont. we are here studying very hard just like the other students in liberia's medical school and we believe the problem is not because the selection of students coming to china was not done properly. let people stop politicizing medicine. This is not about speaking 'Big english' its about life. can those Drs who are now saying all these things tell us that when they went to medical schools, they were not allowed to practice and after graduating they became so perfect? these are things that are killing liberia and its people. Can Dr kopto tell us here that chinese medical schools are not compared to liberia's Ancient and only medical school? He said that foreign companies are bringing in their own doctors, now my question to him is if liberian doctors were so good than any others, while will companies want to pay so much money for a foreign doctor then they might pay for a local one? Can Dr kpoto tell us here how many specialized doctor liberia has of her own? it is time that we all work togeher to find a solution to this whole night mare. we previously and just of recent wrote the GOL explaining and asking them of ways to solve this problem and we even made recommendations. But up to now we are told that GOL does not have money to transport people home to do interns and then do the same for them when they shall have graduated. If he can ask any of those students who just returned, if they were ever allowed to go near a chinese patients then he will get to understand the route cause of their performances. I want to take this time to call on all meanign loving to help add to our voices here in the diaspora; who in the snow and harch wethether conditions we find ourselves under today, to ask government to provide for students, transports to return and do intern and come back to graduate. In our recommendations we also mentioned that students can be allowed to stay and specialized so that they will atleast be allowed by the chinese to practiced. My name is Edwin N. Sumowar, a medical student here in china and presently the secretary General of the Liberian students union in china (LSUIC)and i can be reached by mobil:+8613035088167, skype. iwinic74/sumowar or esumowar@yahoo.com Thank you very much and hope some one will get this message to the right authority.
It is a pity, to hear such a statement fill with so much disgrace on the part of the so-called Dr. Slawon not having statistics on Chinese universities. Again I say what a pity. To begin now, let me make it categorically clear that there is no university, I mean no university in Liberia that can be compare to any college in China and not even universities. I think the job of your office so-called Dr. Slawon is to liaise with the inter-ministerial scholarship committee to take a survey in China to no the credibility of Chinese well structured and equipped universities before coming on air to make sweeping statement. We know where you are coming from with such a statement, we understand the politic that is playing here, you so-called Doctors who are in control of our education system are doing everything possible to discourage bright mind from per suing higher education so as to not be more than you. But! by the grace of God Almighty, this will soon come to an end. We are here struggling in cold and sunshine to prepare ourselves for the betterment of our country and all you have to say when you have a floating time is mere nonsense? Let me make you to understand here that for example,at my university (Hohai university) where am studying, on a yearly basis trained the professors that teach at the famous Kwame Nkruma University of Science and Technology where Liberians proudly go for graduate studies. Mr. Slawon what a pity that as head of higher education what are you doing to create exchange program among your so-called universities in Liberia and foreign universities? All you do is make sweeping statement because you have the leeway to do so. But trust me you will not go with such statement. How can you and so-called Dr. Kpoto condemned a system that is thousands of years better than Liberia? This is your second blunder, the first was the AMEU saga. The president needs to look into this seriously. To conclude 99.9% of the universities in China are state run ok, may be this can help you in starting you research so as to have your so-call statistic on Chinese efficient universities.