FG plans six medical simulation centres nationwide

ABUJA — The Federal Government has unveiled plans to establish six world-class medical simulation centres across the country’s geopolitical zones to improve practical training for Nigeria’s expanding 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.

Alausa described the proposed centres as critical to equipping students in medicine, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry and other allied health professions with hands-on skills.

The initiative comes amid a significant increase in admissions into health-related programmes.

The minister said nursing enrolment had risen from about 38,000 students three years ago to more than 120,000, while annual medical school admissions had increased from about 5,000 when President Bola Tinubu assumed office to nearly 12,000 currently.

He said the government was targeting an increase in annual medical school admissions to about 20,000 within the next three years, making modern practical training facilities increasingly important.

“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.

Alausa added that admissions into pharmacy and dental programmes had also doubled, stressing that the expansion in student numbers must be matched with corresponding investments in the quality of training.

According to him, the proposed simulation centres would bridge the gap between classroom instruction and real-life clinical practice by providing students with modern, controlled environments to develop critical skills before treating patients.

He said the initiative aligned with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Tinubu administration, particularly its efforts to expand Nigeria’s healthcare workforce while improving the quality of education and professional training.

“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.

He commended the Chairman of the Medical Simulation Committee, Dr Wale Suleiman, and other members for developing the framework for the proposed centres.

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, particularly as Nigeria seeks to produce a larger and better-trained healthcare workforce.

He said the government would continue to support the development of the TETFund Medical Simulation Centres across the six geopolitical zones, with the objective of ensuring that the increasing number of Nigerians entering healthcare professions 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 required to drive Nigeria’s future development.