CHEd’s Changes on the Nursing Curricullum was met with protests and rejections
CHEd released last week Memorandum Order No. 5 which mandates nursing schools to add new subjects and increase the hospital hours of nursing students starting this school year. It will be applicable only to incoming freshmen nursing students.
Several stakeholders such as a group of private school and the parents of the incoming nursing students cry foul to this move since they claimed that no public consultations was done by CHEd to that effect. They claimed that the additional year and longer hospital hours will be costly for the parents of nursing students. CHEd was quick to respond saying that they did consulted the group 3 years ago through Maria Teresita Sy-Sinda, chairperson of CHEd’s Technical Communication on Nursing Studies.
Ms. Sy-Sinda said nursing school owners, parents and related institutions were consulted during the drafting of the program. According to her, the original plan was to turn the nursing degree into a five-year program to ensure graduates’ competence. This, she said, was turned down by the stakeholders, citing the additional costs it would entail. She further claimed that the new program was much better because of the integration of the review for the licensure exams in the nursing schools.
As we blogged recently, private nursing review centers now have to comply with the strict standards set by CHEd if they wish to continue operating, Sinda said, adding nursing schools that fail to meet the minimum passing rate for three years could be closed down.
Another setback made by the new curriculum is that it gets rid of “special courses” for professionals applying to nursing schools. Before, professionals like doctors can finish a nursing degree within 18 months because of the special courses offered by schools. Now they have to go through the whole program to become a nurse.
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CHED Will Finally Close Down Nursing Review Centers Not Compliant with EO 566
It seems that the Philippine Government is now fed up with embarassing professional board exams results that shocked the country and the international community as well in recent years. This is primarily triggered by the fiasco that happened in the 2006 Nursing Board Exams.
Yesterday, Executive Director William Medrano, an official of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) admitted that debilitating impact of fly-by-night review centers to the Professional Regulation Commissions exam results could have been avoided had the industry been regulated by the agency.
The admission was made after the Northcap Nursing Review Center incident we blogged yesterday.
If it had been regulated, then there will be no fly-by-night-schools or problems with review centers, he said.
He further cited that the recent scam in the Civil Engineering Board Exam last Nov. 2007 that resulted to the re-examination of two subjects could be prevented if review centers were under strict monitoring and supervision of CHED.
Last month, CHED Executive Director Atty. Julito Vitriolo already warned all review centers (including nursing review centers) and similar entities to comply with Executive Order No. 566 signed by President Gloria Arroyo last September 2006. He said that CHED will no longer extend the deadline for the imposition of EO 566, which mandates independent review centers to integrate with schools to prevent the repeat of questionable Board exams results.
Vitriolo said that their main concern is simply that of guiding the students and parents in enrolling in legitimate and CHED-authorized review centers and not just some fly by night schools. He further that they will not hesitate to close down review centers which would not comply with E.O. 566.
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Nursing Students/Examinees Fall Prey to Fund Scam of Northcap Review Center in Bataan
Because of fund mess up by one of the review centers in Balanga, Bataan, more than a thousand aspiring Nursing students have appealed to the PRC to grant them extension to file applications for the June 1 & 2 Nursing Board Exams. The last day was supposed to be April 18.
According to the owner of Northcap Review Center in Balanga City, Josephine Paguio, Northcap-Baguio’s Administrative Officer Vivian Lazaro did not file with the PRC the application of 1,067 nursing reviewers from Northcap branches in Central Luzon and North Luzon, 271 of which come from Bataan.
Paying P1,150 per applicant, the total amount paid by Northcap reviewers amounted to more than P1.2 million, which Lazaro did not remit to the PRC, Paguio said.
Parents of the nursing reviewees are quick to react and said their children were not at fault as they complied with the requirements. They should not be punished for the wrongdoing of a Northcap-Baguio official. Parents are the primary influence to students nowadays to take the Nursing profession and put it as the top choice for enrollees this year.
Other parents said their children suffered some form of trauma and lack of enthusiasm. Surprisingly, they did not blame the owner of the review center in Balanga City as Paguio is doing all she can to resolve the problem.
Paguio said they have filed with the Bataan Prosecutors Office an estafa case against the runaway lady Vivian Lazaro.
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Nursing is the Top Choice for Enrollees this Year – CHED
It was reported by Commission on Higher Education (CHED) that their forecast suggests Nursing to be the top choice for new enrollees this year going to colleges and universities. This is not a surprising given the fact that many Pinoy students today still view nursing as their ticket to work outside the country for more money.
In fact, I know of some medical doctors, dentists and vets who have shifted to becoming a nurse and moving to the US and Europe.
The forecast is made despite the growing nursing graduates in the country which can lead to overproduction in a few years time. This seems to be telling us that, in the end, money is indeed a major motivator for our nursing students.
I just hope that there will be more work for them here in the Philippines while they wait for their VISAs to go out of the country. I also hope that there will be no more blunders in the field of nursing so that the demand outside will continue to grow to accommodate this growing nursing graduates.
Here is the list in the CHED forecast:
1. Nursing
2. Hotel and Restaurant Mgt.
3. Computer Science
4. Criminology
5. Information Technology
6. Accountancy
7. Management
8. Elementary Education
9. English Education
10. Electronics and Comm. Engineering
11. Marine Transportation
12. Computer Engineering
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