Health Minister Joseph Kasonde says the Western School of Nursing in Livingstone will remain closed following the institution’s failure to improve education standards.
Dr Kasonde said his ministry approved the recommendation by the General Nursing Council (GNC) that the institution be closed immediately.
“The Ministry of Health has accepted and approved the recommendation of the GNC that the work of this institution be closed immediately. This is not a happy occasion. The General Nursing Council concluded that we are risking a less than acceptable level of training for our children,”he said.
Dr Kasonde said this today when he addressed Western School of Nursing management, students and their parents.
He stated that all stakeholders involved did not want students at the institution to acquire academic qualifications that would subsequently be questioned by employers.
“None of us in the profession will accept that a person we call a nurse, a graduate of a school of nursing in Zambia, is in any way questionable in the way the patient will be looked after,” said the Minister.
However, Dr Kasonde said students at the institution could not be allowed to suffer due to mismanagement at the institution.
“Students who have been here cannot be allowed to suffer because of difficulties that are temporary and to lose their careers, personal development and capacity to help the country move forward-the country needs to move forward,” he said.
Dr Kasonde announced that all students would be made eligible for entry in any other nursing school and in particular into government nursing schools.
He however cautioned that each student would be assessed on which level they had attained and placed at an appropriate level in the new school they might enter, as the careers of the young people were important to the country.
Dr Kasonde regretted that Western School of Nursing did not implement the recommendations made by the GNC.
“I warned when I was here in August that there were a number of actions that needed to be taken to get out of this difficult period. I regret that I have not been satisfied with the actions taken to address challenges pertaining to provision of teachers, student/teacher ratio, availability of materials for learning and accommodation,” he said.
And General Nursing Council Registrar Universe Mulenga said the council would demand for all students to be absorbed in government nursing schools within a month if it would be feasible.
Mrs. Mulenga advised the students to submit their current qualifications to the GNC for verification with the Examinations Council of Zambia and to acquire all the necessary learning materials before they could be transferred to government nursing schools.
She noted with concern that most student nurses at Western School of Nursing were not registered with the GNC, a situation she described as dangerous.
“It is very dangerous for most of you as you are not registered with the GNC which is mandated to prepare examinations for you. If you are not registered with us it simply means we will not cater for you when preparing for exams and you will not get the desired qualification to practice as a nurse,” she said.
ZANIS
Good job Honourable minister. We also need to have a national exam that assesses private schools so that all qualified nurses may take a standardised exam because of poor work ethics by some nurses from the private schools.
Kitwe should also be shut down due to poor spelling standards. 1th, 2th, 3th are some of the street names found in Nkana East or whatever!
Mr minister could you also help the parents by you listing the nursing school which are legible for our children, so that they could get appropriate education because some schools are just interested in the money and not education
Its all B coz of SATA na
true u are a patient.
The minister of education should also check out a university in L/stone. There is a poster just by the road side of a university. Just looking at the quality of this poster and and the surrounding where it is placed, i don/t think this institution meets the standards of a university. I am impressed with the effort the nursing council is putting into maintain standards unlike in teaching where every Jim and Jack can become a teacher , lecturer and school owner.
We need Enrolled to Registered Nursing Distant Learning in Nursing in all the Provinces all selected Nursing Schools in each Province. This will definatly reduce shortages in Hospitals and Clinics.
There are just too many fly-by-night tertiary institutions in Zambia. The Ministry of Education should also swing into action and assess the situation in private universities and colleges. Many of them do not meet minimum standards.
The question is why was this nursing school, like many other private institutions, allowed to operate before meeting the minimum standards in the first place? The ACC and other investigative wings including the media must investigate and expose the culprits.