The Gombe government has cleared seven out of the 17 closed private colleges of health and technology in the state after complying with stipulated medical standards by the regulatory bodies.

Zubairu Umar, the Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice, who is the chairman of the committee set up to review and revalidate such health institutions, stated this at a briefing in Gombe on Monday.

Mr Umar said the decision was reached at the State Executive Council (SEC) meeting, presided over by Governor Inuwa Yahaya.

He stated that the remaining 10 institutions would remain closed until the conditions for accreditation were met to ensure that the institutions produced only professionals.

“This government is very much concerned about the welfare and health of its citizens, and that’s why we took the necessary action to protect our citizenry.”

He said the committee went around the 17 institutions to assess their files and number of students and verify their facilities to ensure they were up to standard.

He said the committee, having assessed the status of the institutions, was satisfied with the accreditation and status of seven out of the 17 sealed in March.

“These seven institutions are Fountain College of Health Science and Technology, Tumfure; Conformance College of Health Science and Technology, Billiri; Garkuwa College of Health Science and Technology, Gombe.

“Others are Lamido School of Hygiene, Liji; Ummah College of Health Science and Technology; Dukku International College of Health Science and Technology and Haruna Rashid College of Health Science and Technology, Dukku.”

He, however, cautioned the schools to continue operations based on the courses the committee had certified to have met the requirements and not to go beyond the certified courses.

Explaining further, the state’s Commissioner for Health, Habu Dahiru, said the parameters used by the government in assessing the institutions included accreditation with regulatory bodies and provision of standard structures like classrooms, laboratories and demonstration rooms.

Mr Dahiru listed others to include the provision of clinics, libraries and e-learning facilities as well as the environment regarding the security of students and staff.

He assured that the closed schools would be considered as soon as improvements to their status were made to fulfil the requirements.

In March, the state government shut down all private health colleges over a lack of accreditation and registration.

(NAN)