Mudathir Hayatullahi (Abu Lubabah) and Hamid Fatimah Omotayo (Pen Babe) report,
A circular released by the Department of General Studies Division, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, has noted that no student should be made to buy any handout for any course. Following this, the students of UDUS have reacted by pointing out that the decision made by the GST Unit is a very good initiative.
The announcement was contained in an internal memorandum signed and released from the Office of the Director of General Studies, Professor M.G Mahuta on the 24th of November 2021.
This was the result of a board meeting that was held on Wednesday the 24th of November 2021. The memorandum stated that it has come to their awareness that some lecture materials for GST courses are being sold, which is against the rules of the university.
“Thus, the Board at its meeting of 24th November 2021 has directed that henceforth no student should be made to buy any material for any GST courses in the Division as is in line with the University policy.”
The students of the university have since expressed their happiness over the announcement but, have lamented that they have already fallen victim to buying GST materials from GST lecturers on the UDUS campus.
Abdulwahab Nurudeen Afolabi, a 200-level student of Computer Science, asserted that the school has done the right thing by stopping the GST lecturers from selling handouts to students.
“I could remember during my 100-level, they made it compulsory for us to buy the GST materials from them. They told us that students that do not get a copy from them would not pass their GST courses and that made many students buy it then,” he disclosed.
Nurudeen, however, added that many students have vowed not to buy any material from the lecturers again, even before the GST unit stopped them.
According to him, “We prefer to scan the hardcopy of the handouts and convert them to PDFs, for them to reduce our expenses on campus.”
Imam Lukman Shafi’i, a 200-level student of Education and Biology asserted that he thought they expected the students to be buying the material from their department after the decision.
“One lecturer said in her last GST class that it is impossible to buy a GST handout at the mini-mart,” he said.
Another student, Adigun Khadijat, who is also a 200-level Student of Education and Biology told PEN Press UDUS that she had known from her 100-level that buying GST materials from lecturers is not compulsory.
“I bought GST 101 material from the GST lecturer in UG1 and I did not buy GST 104 material from them, that was when I knew it is not compulsory to buy the handouts from GST lecturers,” she said.
For Adisa Muhammed, a 300 level student of Public Administration, the management has its reason for prohibiting the sales of GST Materials which is not known to the students yet.
“It may be because students rely on the handouts than going to GST classes and the management feels that if the GST lecturers stop selling handouts, the students will prioritize going to GST classes over reading the handouts only for exams without attending classes,” he said.
Mutairu Waliyah Folasade, a 200-level student from the Faculty of Education and Extension Services commended the unit for the good initiative, noting that students should not be made to buy handouts from lecturers.
“For them to make buying the materials compulsory makes students think it is for their own (lecturers) interests. They sometimes say that if we don’t buy their handouts, we can’t pass their exams because the handouts are very valid,” she said.
Waliyah, however, advised the Division to release materials and inform the students where to get them.
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