OVER 200 students of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University (Unizik) Awka in Anambra State slumped while writing their post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) on Monday as exhaustion at having to sit in the hall all day took its toll on them.
Apparently, the school authorities did not make proper arrangements for the examination, meaning that the pupils had to be detained from 8am to 9pm on the day. Although there were no reported deaths, it is believed that the combination of fatigue, hunger and stress led to several students collapsing.
One of the students said: “The examination was not organised as computers were not enough and we were there from 8am till 9pm. Honestly, more than 200 students slumped due to exhaustion and the lecturers did not care, as they were busy pushing us from one place to another.
“Some who came from distant places without relations in Anambra slept in the open and the fear is that no one knows if any of the slumped students died.”
However, Emmanuel Ojukwu, Unizik's director of information debunked the allegations, pointing out that only three students slumped and they were resuscitated at the school’s clinic. He added that one of the victims was asthmatic and did not come with her medication, while the second victim was in an accident earlier while the third was hungry.
Mr Ojukwu said: "What we did was to allow those already screened to finish their exams while the others were told to come back on Friday. On Monday, we had 11,000 students and 8,200 wrote the exam, while others will write theirs later."
He pointed out that Unizik was organised and the school is equal to the task. According to Mr Ojukwu, the university had 500 computers, while the examinations ended by 5pm.
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