By Daniel Oluwatobiloba Popoola
The Federal Government is set to establish six world-class medical simulation centres across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones to strengthen practical training for the country’s growing healthcare workforce.
The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, disclosed this while receiving the report of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) Medical Simulation Committee, saying the centres were necessary to meet the training needs created by rising enrolment in medicine, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry and other allied health programmes.
Alausa said nursing enrolment had risen from about 38,000 students three years ago to more than 120,000, while annual medical school admissions increased from about 5,000 when President Bola Tinubu assumed office to nearly 12,000.
He said the Federal Government was targeting about 20,000 annual medical school admissions within the next three years, stressing that the increase must be matched with corresponding investment in practical training.
“Our goal in the next three years will increase the number of annual medical student enrollment in medical school to about 20,000,” he said.
The Minister added that admissions into pharmacy and dental programmes had also doubled, making improved training facilities essential to maintaining the quality of healthcare education.
According to him, the simulation centres will bridge the gap between classroom instruction and clinical practice by providing controlled environments where students can develop practical and critical skills before treating patients.
Alausa said the initiative aligned with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Tinubu administration, particularly its efforts to expand the healthcare workforce while improving the quality of education and professional training.
He commended the Chairman of the Medical Simulation Committee, Dr Wale Suleiman, and other members for developing the framework for the centres.
“I would like to thank the members of the committee that has worked so hard and assiduously to get us to this point in which we are now talking about building several simulation centres across the country to provide world-class training for our medical students, dental students, nursing students, pharmacy students and other allied healthcare professionals,” Alausa said.
The committee also drew expertise from key professional and regulatory bodies, including the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria and Pharmacy Council of Nigeria, as well as representatives from academia.
Alausa described the project as another demonstration of the Federal Government’s commitment to raising educational standards as Nigeria works to produce a larger and better-trained healthcare workforce.
He assured that the government would continue to support the development of the TETFund Medical Simulation Centres across the six geopolitical zones to ensure that the growing number of healthcare students receive high-quality, practical and globally competitive training.
The minister said the expansion of health professional education was already yielding results, adding that the government remained focused on developing the human capital needed to drive Nigeria’s future development.
