OUR CHILDREN ARE IN GOOD HANDS- PARENTS OF ACU STUDENTS
Parents and guardians of students of Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo, have expressed confidence in the Management of the University, stating that their children and wards are in safe hands. Many of them expressed positive sentiments yesterday after a meeting with the Vice-Chancellor at the Crowther Hall of the University. The Vice-Chancellor, Principal Officers, and some Deans of Faculties joined them at the Annual General Meeting of Ajayi Crowther University Parents and Sponsors Forum(ACUPAF).
After the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Timothy Adebayo, addressed them on physical developments, disciplinary measures were taken against recalcitrant students, efforts to grow the Internally Generated Revenue of the University, and academic developments in the University, many of the parents, in their response, said their minds were at rest with the state of the University and the academic and moral training being given to their children.
Before the Vice-Chancellor addressed them, he had beckoned on the Chairman of Students’ Disciplinary Committee, Professor Ebenezer Olayinka, Bursar, Pastor Samson Olojede, Medical Director, Dr. J. B. Aiyejumoh, and Dean of Students Affairs, Dr. Roland Isibor, to speak to the parents on various aspects of the University especially as it concerns the area they oversee. Professor Olayinka told the parents that some of their children were involved in the use of illicit drugs which attracts expulsion as penalty as stated in the Students Handbook. He told them to advise their children to read the handbook in order to avoid committing any offense that would earn them punishments, ranging from suspension to expulsion. Pastor Olojede harped on the need for prompt payment of fees, stating that the University gets no subvention from anywhere, and thus depends largely on students’ fees to run the University. Dr. Ayejumoh told the parents to advise their children/wards to ensure that they register with the University Health Centre. He advised them not to be quick in coming to the campus to take their sick children home except the Health Centre has given the students permission to go home, stating that such parents may embark on a fruitless journey if no permission had been given to the student. He said the University has referral hospitals where students are sent and monitored if their ailments necessitate such. He told them to hold their children back from being rude and insolent to medical personnel attending to them. Dr. Isibor harped on the need for students to behave in a manner befitting of students being groomed in a faith-based institution.
In his address, the Vice-Chancellor assured the parents that he was doing everything necessary to grow the University’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR). Such moves include the purchase of a new bottling machine for the University water factory, a new Oven for the University bakery, 40 acres of Cassava farm, a Beehive that has already begun to produce honey, fish ponds with over 10,000 fingerlings, a mini ranch, plant rosary and impending 20 acres of pineapple farm.
He also told them that a small hostel that would accommodate 64 students had reached the advanced stage, and would be ready before one month. He said a ‘Welcome Centre’ was being built near the school gate, where parents would meet with their children in a conducive environment when they come to visit. He thanked the Forum for donating N5m ( Five million Naira) in aid of the building and stated that the building would cost nothing less than N15m ( Fifteen million Naira).
After his address, some of the parents asked various questions about the welfare of students and got responses from the Vice-Chancellor. He promised to improve on areas that needed it. One of those areas was the prompt release of results and easy process for student registration. He said the University was working on an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) system that would make for easy and seamless registration and easy access to result for students after payment of necessary fees.
The parents expressed gratitude to the University Management for their efforts to improve the University. The Association also donated additional N1.5m in aid of the’ Welcome Centre’ under construction. Later the Forum elected a new executive resulting in the former acting Chairman, Mrs. Eddy-Ugorji, whose tenure has lapsed, who was ineligible for election given that her child had graduated, handing over to Mr. Timothy Ishola, former Public Relations Officer of the Association, as Chairman.
