Baze varsity students undergo drug testing

The authorities of the Baze University, Abuja, have introduced random drug testing on students, as part of measures to check drug and substance abuse at the institution.

The school, which will on October 11, 2014, graduate 71 pioneer students from Faculties of Management and Social Sciences, Law and Computing and Applied Sciences, also introduced biometrics and conference marking to combat examination malpractice.

Its Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Michael Hodd, who said this at a briefing, explained that the measures had reduced drug abuse and examination malpractice in the university.

The university, which commenced academic activities with 17 students three years ago, according to the VC, at present has over 1,200 students with over 700 of them on campus.

Hodd explained that the institution was determined to be an excellent school that would compete with other ivory towers in the United Kingdom and the United States.

According to him, the radical measures are to make the university to be at par with their foreign counterparts in excellence and research.

The VC said it was cheaper for parents to enrol their children in the university, which he said was more cost effective than sending them to study in the UK.

He highlighted the priorities of the university to include keeping the cost of education at an affordable level, maintaining a reputation for high quality research, putting in place effective measures to combat drug abuse, examination malpractice, anti-social behaviour and corruption.

He added, “Baze University has a secure and pleasant location in Abuja, and parents can readily visit their children. Random drug testing has been introduced; there is biometrics and conference marking to combat exam malpractice, just as there is zero tolerance for corruption. Incidence in all these aspects has fallen to one-third of initial levels.”

Hodd stated that the university had achieved some of its objectives, noting that external examiners had rated its academic standards as being higher than those of an average UK university.

“This has been confirmed by the performance of the one Baze student on a study programme at the University of Westminster,” the VC stated.

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