By Shehu Uthman
It's a general knowledge that health is a lifeblood of our existence without which surviving becomes very challenging and that is why it's prioritized over everything else for it owns and controls what we do in life.
However, sickness reveals our vulnerability by changing the circumstances of our life into unpleasant moments. It also pushes us into apprehensive situations that disenables us to do activities we could ordinarily carry out. And when encountered with this condition, we're left completely helpless to engage in anything except hoping for recovery.
But amid academic struggle, health conditions are treated with a sort of indifference, especially given the school's harsh policy that pushes sick students into unbearable challenges. The same harsh rules goes in Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS) where sickness often comes with a heavy price for students.
Over time, I've observed colleagues drag themselves from hospital beds to examination halls, their bodies weak but their determination strong. I have seen bright students struggle not because they did not understand their courses, but because illness robbed them of the strength to prepare. Many end up carrying over courses or repeating sessions, not out of failure, but out of fate.
I read through the pages of history across many generations, and I found neither a single individual nor a section of a group of people who found sickness as a friend—worthy of dwelling with or interacting together at any point in time. Sickness is neither an elixir nor an edible to be consumed. No matter how lonely you were, I cannot imagine you, even for once, imbibing it, for it is not palatable.
On the soil of UDUS, students are left with scars on their bodies that often refuse to fade. Being under the weather as a student in UDUS during examinations keeps two different thoughts burning in your mind: "When would I get better to read for today's exam?.." or "If I can't make it, then my last alternative is to carry over the course or repeat it."
Actually, the above should not be what a student on a sickbed thinks about. I doubt if there is any benefit the school management earns if students are exposed to the vulnerability of carrying over a course or repeating a whole academic session, merely because he or she is sick and has not been able to meet 75% attendance or fully prepare for an examination—circumstances which go beyond the student's control.
According to Chapter Five of the Revised Students Handbook 2021, the clause providing for "Regulations Governing Conduct And Discipline of Students" has provided under 5.3 (vii), on page 69, that:
"Subject to the approval of the Senate, the University may grant concessions to student(s) who could not complete or write all their examinations due to certified illness or other exigencies acceptable to the Senate. Where the Senate accepts any reason as genuine, it shall be at the discretion of Senate to determine the nature of concession(s) to be so given."
It is indisputable that student welfare is provided for, but then, how often and to what extent has this favored the students or helped them in the smooth running of their academic activities? I have seen many students who run from hospital to examination halls, and in this kind of situation, students were not able to prepare well for their examinations—thereby leading many to carry over a course, if not courses, or even repeat a year.
We all know how rigorous the academic activities of UDUS are, and how do you think a seriously ill student would be able to devour hundreds of pages in a bid to prepare for an exam on a sick bed? How possible is this? Trying to put something on nothing while expecting it to stand is talking about impossibility, and that is not how things have to be done. There is a need to put things in place.
This article is not to criticize the school management but rather, it is a message passed by a concerned student to the school management in a hope to reconsider the Revised Students Handbook and amend all provisions that do more bad than good to the students. I am totally convinced that the management are there for the students, for the students and by the students. Therefore, student welfarism should be their core concern, and if I am accordingly right, then I am in no way wrong if I believe that the school management are not there to cause unnecessary difficulties to the students.
Sickness is not a crime, and it shouldn't be treated like one. Subjecting students to choose between sickbeds and exams is not a way that will help and this is a brief call for rethink. Sickness is real and not intentional; it is not invited or welcomed before it arrives; it comes without notice. Without mixing words up, no student wants to fall sick, not even after an exam.
When the Prescription is Rest, But the Rulebook Says Write
Sickness is not a myth; malaria is true. No student will intentionally delay his or her examinations by feigning to be under the weather—that is a big lie.
I can vividly recall the last session when one of my closest friends fell sick during an exam. We had to take him to the school clinic, and the worst thing was that we had exams almost every day. His sickness was very serious to the extent that he had no appetite to engulf any edible substance into his alimentary canal. I almost cried for him because I unavoidably pitied him.
What kept flowing into my heart was: "In the Faculty of Law, even to fail you must read, then what will happen now if you don't?" I know my friend would never try not to read in normal circumstances—if he was all right.
Glory be to God, with prayers we triumphed after he passed the course he attempted while seriously ill.
This is Not Coming Out of My Pocket—It's Real
Illness affects academic outcomes through two primary mechanisms: absenteeism and presenteeism, the latter defined as productivity loss due to working while ill. Both pathways have been substantiated through quantitative research.
A 2024 cross-sectional study of undergraduate students at a Bangladeshi public university found that nearly 70% of the study population reported health problems that contributed to presenteeism and reduced academic performance. This productivity loss is a critical factor, as students may attempt examinations while ill, leading to subpar results that fail to reflect their knowledge.
Regarding mental health, a study at Makerere University revealed that anxiety was the most prevalent mental health problem, affecting 40.41% of students, with 48.12% of respondents reporting a drop in grades as a consequence of mental health disorders. These findings align with broader research indicating that poorer psychological health is significantly associated with missing more classes due to health reasons.
Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health indicates a stark disparity in graduation rates: students with chronic illness graduate college at only half the rate of their non-ill peers (18% vs. 32%). This statistic underscores the profound long-term impact of health conditions on academic trajectories.
According to the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, there was a 44% reduction in the probability of degree completion for students managing chronic health conditions. Critically, this disparity emerges despite the fact that chronically ill students achieve comparable high school graduation rates to their healthy peers, indicating that the academic challenges associated with illness become particularly pronounced at the university level.
The gap underscores how illness-related absenteeism and presenteeism—productivity loss while studying or taking exams while ill, can lead to a cascade of course failures, carryovers, and eventual dismissal or attrition.
This finding contextualizes the other data available: the 70% of undergraduates reporting health problems that reduce academic performance due to presenteeism, and the 48% of Makerere University students reporting a drop in grades due to mental health disorders such as anxiety.
I Automatically Repeated—Because I Missed Writing My Test and Exam
A month ago, I was speaking with one 200-level Nursing student from City Campus whose story is mind-bending and pitiable. She narrated her story, telling the tough moment she once went through which almost crippled her. At that point in time, tears almost streamed from my eyes because this very lady almost dropped out of school during the inevitable difficult moment.
"I was tackled by typhoid twice, each incident following another, and this reached a point when I could not walk by myself until two of my friends helped—by carrying me from one hospital to another." She recounted that her lecturers took attendance with heavy hands, and before she regained her health back, she already missed enough attendance in which she was denied writing both test and exam—resulting in automatic repeat.
This is actually hurting and unfair to this Nursing student. She told me that to some extent, she felt like dropping out of school because she felt like not continuing her education. Who knows how many students dropped out of school for a reason similar to this, while the school management is oblivious?
I respectfully appeal that the school management should set up a clear policy so that no sick student is left without the school's attention. Therefore, a clear system of checking on students should be put into place. There should also be a means of supporting students who are admitted to the hospital.
We are appealing that seriously sick students should be spared from attendance, writing tests and exams until they recover from the sickness, for them to get enough strength to read in order to pass with flying colours.
Equally, students should not hesitate to report any unbearable sickness that will disrupt their academic journey, for health is wealth.