The students of Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto (UDUS) have pleaded with the school management to repair fans that are not working in the lecture halls. Due to heat surge and the need to read their books, some of the students are worried about the lack of ventilation in many of the classes.
According to the students, most of them expressed their concern after discovering that some of the fans in various lecture halls have stopped working while others are removed from the ceilings, especially the large classes that contain many students.
It was gathered that in A134 Class, eight fans were removed and the remaining one is not working. In A10 Lecture Halls, only six are working in low circuits while eleven have stopped. Also in A20 Lecture Halls, all the twenty fans are dormant and have no switch.
Other classes like B09 have a total number of sixteen fans and eleven of them are no longer working. However, even the large PTF Lecture Halls with twenty three fans have only one active fan. Due to the conditions of the fans, the majority of the students find reading in those large classes resort to reading outside.
During an interview with PEN PRESS, Abdulrauf Muhideen, a 100-Level student of Physiotherapy was bewildered by the weather condition in Sokoto, describing it as “Sun City due to the excessive scorching and excruciating weather conditions.”
Abdulrauf further pleaded with the university management to help alleviate the suffering of students due to heat and mosquitos.
“Our primary assignment here is our academy, some provisions in our reading facility like electric fans, inadequate electricity and light bulbs in the classes should be provided to curtail the deteriorating impact of heat during reading and assimilation”.
Echoing Abdulrauf’s statement, Bello Ummulkhair, a 300-Level student of Biochemistry said, “the issue of non functional fans will affect students academic performances, especially during the heat period because students find it difficult to study due to the non conducive atmosphere.
“Some students used to stay outside the classroom when the heat became more intense and they were easily distracted by petty things around them. Also when receiving lectures, it really causes distractions and the information being passed during the lecture is less comprehended”, she told PEN PRESS.
To bring management attention to students’ concern, Mashood Abbas, a 200-Level student of Curriculum Studies said apart from repairing the fans in lecture halls, the wall clocks too are not working in the classes and they are also very useful during examinations and lectures.
“The issue of fans in lecture halls is affecting students a lot, but the wall clocks are very important too because some students are getting carried away when they are in the examination hall without knowing that time has gone,” he bemoaned.
While speaking with the University Dean Students Affairs, Professor Umar Aliyu, he said: “I did not know about it, but I will assign the maintenance officer to go and check,verify, and report back to me.