Trainees from the country’s Schools of Hygiene have strongly refuted recent public statements by the Minister of Health and Finance, rejecting as “inaccurate and misleading” claims that all trainees, including Hygiene students, have been paid their allowances up to June 2025.

In a press release issued by the Coalition of Hygiene Trainees, the group declared that no payments have been made to their members since January 2023, amounting to an unprecedented 30-month period of allowance arrears.

The coalition is now calling for an immediate retraction and clarification of the Ministers’ remarks, which they say misrepresent the realities faced by less than 4,000 affected trainees across the country.

“The assertion is inaccurate, misleading, and must be retracted in the interest of transparency and fairness to the down-spirited Hygiene trainees,” the statement read.

“Contrary to the claims made, trainees have not received a single allowance since January 2023, which is a staggering two-and-a-half-year period of financial aid abandonment,” it added.

These Hygiene trainees, who are being trained in critical areas of environmental health and sanitation, contend that their exclusion from government disbursements reveals systemic neglect and a lack of appreciation for their role in public health.

They stress that while nursing trainees may have received allowances, the assumption that all trainees have been paid is “a gross misrepresentation of the facts.”

“Our roles are equally important,” the release noted. “Nursing trainees become nurses in hospitals, while we become Environmental Health Officers at Assemblies, inspectors at ports, and more. Yet, we continue to be sidelined.”

The coalition further highlighted the devastating impact of the delay in allowance disbursement on trainees’ well-being.

The prolonged financial hardship has led to increased dropout rates, mental health challenges, and, in some tragic instances, the loss of life among students who could no longer bear the strain.

“This situation is a stain on the nation’s commitment to equitable education and health workforce development,” the group lamented. “It is deeply disheartening that students who served on the frontlines during the COVID-19 pandemic—providing services in sanitation, health education, and even the burial of the dead—are now being subjected to neglect and silence.”

The Coalition of Hygiene Trainees is therefore demanding the following:

1. An immediate public correction of the false claims regarding the payment of allowances to all trainees.
2. A clear and time-bound roadmap for the disbursement of all outstanding arrears owed to Hygiene trainees.

While reaffirming their commitment to peaceful advocacy, the group made it clear they would not remain silent in the face of what they described as “falsehoods detrimental to the mental health” of their members.

“Our schools are already underfunded. Trainees are struggling to survive, but we will not accept misrepresentations at the expense of our dignity and future.”