AFAS PRO unveils e-library for students; Afasites react

Olanshile Ogunrinu
As part of efforts to aid seamless access to course materials and other relevant study resources, the public relations officer of the Association of Faculty of Arts students (AFAS), Oluseye Oluwaseun, popular known as ‘Active Don’ has unveiled an online library for students to download course materials for GES, departmental courses and other important materials including the AFAS constitution.
The e-library, which has been promised in the PRO’s manifesto, consists of materials uploaded on Google Drive and can be easily accessed by anyone. In a conversation with an AFAS press reporter, the PRO said the initiative was to help students get necessary study materials, especially for freshers.
“The purpose (of the initiative) is glaring already. (It is) To enhance smooth learning and easy access to course materials, especially for fresh students who are borrowing from other departments.” He said.
Speaking on why the constitution is included in the library, Active Don said the inclusion of a brainchild of his and the faculty’s vice president, Olajumoke, and also emphasized how important it is for Afasites to be aware of their rights which are in the constitution.
“There are some important materials and documents that most Afasites do not have access to like the constitution and the reviews, that is why I and the vice president and decided to add the constitution because she promised this too.”
“The rights of Afasites are entrenched in the constitution. Knowing your rights in any space you find yourself in is very important. Also, it will help them to know the political structures and system we use in the faculty of Arts, especially those aspiring to be a student leader,” he concluded.
It’s a good initiative but unfinished……… – Afasites
While reacting to the development, Kolawole Oluwagbenga, a student of the department of CLA said even though the initiative is a welcomed development, however, cannot be effective if all the departments in the faculty are not captured in the library.
“It can’t be effective if the departments in the faculty are not included, there are some course materials that are not in it and I think the classics department only has one document on it for 100lv as well. They should have finished the assignment on it before launching it, they are just overhyping an unfinished project,” Kolawole said.
For Faith Adediran, a 100-level student of history, the soft copy of the constitution cannot substitute the need for the hard copy.
“Okay. I’ve gone through it (the e-library) and to be sincere, I think it’s good, yeah because I’ve seen something like this before from the executives of my department but this is quite different and broad and from the fact that it compares the constitutions and all the slides for all the departments. It’s good.”
“Nevertheless, this will not make us challenge the fact that all the materials and the constitutions that were compiled there, I suppose, should be given to each student as a hard copy. So, they should try as much as possible to fix that as quickly as possible. The Google document is good but the hard copy is better.” He wrote.
In his own opinion, Muhammad Kehinde, a student of the department of Linguistics said the works on the e-library should have been completed before making it public.
“It’s like the e-library is not for every department in the faculty as there are some course materials which we can’t find on the drive. As a linguistics students, we can’t find some of our course materials, as what we can only have access to is the past questions.”
“While the initiative is commendable, the committee setting up this e-library should try and add the rest of the department’s course materials and past questions because the work is still inconclusive,” He advised.