Rights And Responsibilities Of Students Of Pharmacy

Pharmacy students rights and responsibilities

We all have right and responsibilities in this country. However, only lawyers know most of those rights and responsibilities. That is why we run to them for guidance and they make money from it. It is not our fault. The laws of the land are more than what we can always remember. However, each one of us should know some of the basic rights in each setting. This post is about the rights and responsibilities of pharmacy students in Nigeria University.

The rights and responsibilities of students in this country have been trampled upon in most schools. Most times, students do not know hence they prefer to let the sleeping dog lie. For those that know, the necessary steps may not be readily available. I know some will say those that took action did not get justice. Therefore, the problem is much. However, a little knowledge will help a lot.
Read Also: Pharmacy School Field Trip In Nigeria
The reason how I got this idea came from a student case that I actually witness back in the days. A lady in one department was caught cheating in the examination hall and taken to the school senate. Eventually, she was expelled for her actions. However, having nothing to lose she took the school management (authority) to court. What were the charges? You cannot be a judge, a jury and at the same time an executioner. This was the point her lawyer used against the school. Moreover, what was the result? She won the case. Surprised, huh. She resumes to write her last examination.
Ever since the case ended, it gave me more ideas as to what student’s rights and responsibilities are. I took my time to do a little investigation and came to the following conclusion. This post is not going to spell out all the students’ rights and responsibilities especially since different schools have variations. This is going to be the basics. In addition, the write up is not going to be like a law book. It is going to be a simplified essay for easy flow of information and knowledge.

Rights Of A Child

Let us start from the very beginning. Each child has a right to education. Therefore, no matter the condition, as far as the student wants to go to school, the school as no legal right to deprive the person of admission. This includes challenged persons. However, when a school takes a case of a challenge person to court and the court deem it fit to prevent such ones from going to public schools, the students have lost it at that point. However, there are schools for different kinds of persons in the world. The conditions in which things like this happen is in cases of communicable deadly diseases. However, cases of diseases such as Human Immune virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) cannot be deprived of education. This is because it is not a communicable disease.

Student Rights And responsibilities

University students including students of pharmacy schools must follow schools rules that have been formulated. University authority mandate students to sign an agreement form known as oath form on the day of matriculation. The content is short and simple, to abide by the school established rules or face the consequences. Failure to comply, this form will be shown to the student on the day of judgement by the school as to the agreement you have with the school. Failure can lead to spelt out punishment. All schools rules are under the law of the federation. Where a rule goes against a particular law of the country, students can challenge that in the court.

Faculty Of Pharmacy Student Rights And Responsibilities

Faculty have their own rules. It is not always possible for the Vice-chancellor (V.C) to be aware of little rules put in place in each faculty or department. However, the VC must approve major rules by the faculty. These rules have punishment for failing them. Some of them may include a standard dress code for students. These rules are non-negotiable. You do not have a right here to deny it. Failure to comply can lead to a punishment of various degrees.
In addition, lecturers have the power to deny a student entry into a lecture hall when the student is late for the lecture, send a student out for improper dressing, bad behaviour, or other rules the student must have broken maybe even before the lecture started. Some lecturers frown at students recording their class lectures with gadgets without permission. That could be against their own privacy rules. Some foreign schools with online lectures also fern at this act. Do not know why though.
Students have rights not to attend or leave a lecture based on discretion. However, a student must make about 70 % of class attendance before that student will be allowed to write an examination.
Laboratory instruction must be followed diligently or face consequences as directed by the dean. Some laboratory instructions include maintaining law and order, replacement of materials and equipment used when damage. Laboratory experimental practical still have rules relating to attendance.
There are rules against violence against anybody in schools. It does not matter from who to whom. Physical or verbal abuse from lecturers is a great offence same way it is when a student attacks a lecturer in anyway that shows lack of respect.
Examination instructions must be adhered to at all times. A student can be punished if caught cheating. The punishment varies. However, you can recall the initial student case this post made reference to at the beginning. Other instructions include not submitting at the right time, going late for an examination, not borrowing writing materials etc. Students may not be allowed to leave the examination hall before time or without permission from the staff. If one student has the permission to leave and another student meets the requirements of the first student, the second student also has the right to leave. Electronics gadget like phones and earphones are not allowed inside the examination hall, as they are means of malpractice and cheating. Punishment of examination offences includes losing score for that course from the department. If the case gets to the school authority, it can lead to suspension, loss of an academic semester, etc.
Complaints about a perceived breach of rights can be channeled to the dean of the faculty. If the aggrieved student was not satisfied with the decisions, such student can direct complaints to the VC through the dean. In a case where this was not taken to the VC, the student can direct it to the VC according to the rules of the school. Evidence of a failed attempt through the dean may be required for the one going to the VC to be approved for consideration. There is a period for filling for complaint for it to be reconsidered.
No staff has the right to ask for money for their legal duty. However, the faculty may grant each department autonomy to generate internal revenue, which comes mostly from selling laboratory manuals, which is practice in some foreign countries.

Students Rights And responsibilities In University

Students also have rules guiding them from the school authority. This does not restrict them but encourage a friendlier environment. Some them are that students have the freedom to form, join and engage in organisation activities that are not to cause harm or destruction of life and properties. They should have objectives that are not against the laws of the school and the country. Those organisations with laws must conform to school rules and must not go against them. For example, school rules specify a tenure of one academic semester for a serving executive for every organisation within the school.
School demonstrations are allowed as long as it conforms to the rules, no destruction of life and properties or obstruction of academic or activities of the people indigenous to the place.
There must a genuine reason. Some demonstrations require permission from school authorities signed by the leaders against anything that goes bad to be held accountable. There is right on the part of the student to publish books in head copy or soft copy on any topic as far as it is not encouraging hatred or succession etc.
Living in school hostels has some restrictions. Some of these restrictions have been set in place probably due to experience form students. Some include the use of animal pets. Many schools frown at it. Others are visitation hour that has a specified time, parking cars at designated areas for the student or his or her visitors. The properties of the hostel must be protected at all times and laws preventing the use of certain equipment such as electric iron, home theatre, and gas cylinder must be avoided. Some hostels evacuate students every semester. However, students have rights to enjoy the basic amenities in the school most especially the ones they paid for in their school fees. this is one of the major reasons school students to engage in mass protest.
Littering of campus may be against school rules. Note that the law may not be strong in every school but it is there. This includes using posters on every billboard, which is not acceptable. Students that have the intention to post pieces of information can use the one for such. There are billboards for use by the school authority.
Schools do not allow the sales and use of hard drugs and alcoholic drinks within the campus. There is punishment associated with that.
Not all area of the school is accessible to students. In addition, some schools are very serious with the use of school identity cards without which the student cannot enter the campus, write examinations, school health centre, or the library. However, with it, you can enter so many places.
It is not new that all schools frown at fraternity organisation. The punishment for those who are in, who initiate someone else or present at their meeting varies.
Students’ security within the campus or during extracurricular activities organised by the school is their legal right. Crime against students such as rape, robbery, assault etc. by fellow students or outsiders within the campus can be taken to the court. However, some of these cases are swept under the carpet.
Students data must be protected an kept confidential except on some occasions such as when law enforcement agency, another school the student has some dealings with such as when a student wants to transfer or even scholarship boards want some of the data.

Rights And Responsibilities When Under Probe

Students’ case at the school authority are mainly serious cases. However, students have rights such as,

• Confidentiality: The student has the right to request the case to be kept private as long as the student keeps to that.
• The student has rights to investigation as the school also have
• Has right to a witness
• Rights to documents constituting of material evidence
• Right to call a witness

Appeal

A student may appeal on the condition that the case has fresh evidence as voted by some majority of the Senate.
The human nature is ever changing. There is no constant law book containing every punishment for every action. Some new actions come up over time. In such case, new punishment is set for those type of cases. There are times a student may do something the school may consider to be bad. If the law has not set up a particular punishment for such a case, the student is free. However, the Senate will have to modify the law to accommodate the new case and any other student that commit such a crime will be held liable. The punishment can range in weight from few days’ suspension to outright expel.

Access To School Rules And Regulations

The laws guiding students in each school can be obtained from the school website, dean of students’ office or the student union government office.
Read Also: All About Pharmaceutical Association Of Nigerian Students (P.A.N.S)
Any student can take any case to the school authority. However, when such is not dealt with properly, it can be taken to a court within the jurisdiction. Students ought to be careful the nature of complaint they push for as most school authority may be adamant to respond. The case is also similar to the court proceeding, as they may not put any meaningful fine on the school because they are both institutions of the state. For example, the case cited earlier was won with an initial damage fee of 10 million naira, which was slashed down to 500,000 naira.
Share On Social Media With Family And Friends To Show You Care!