Martin Endjala
The Rundu rural constituency councilor Paulus Mbangu says that institutions offering nursing courses often use their own curriculums and at their own discretion, which he says compromises the quality of nurses in the country.
Mbangu said this in an interview, in which he explained how the mushrooming of nurses training institutions are compromising the profession.
“It seems like everyone is coming up with their own nursing training institutes, and the same institutes are often reported for extorting money from students and when they apply for work, they find out that they have just wasted their time as their curriculum does not offer the much needed skills in the profession” he said.
He has since called on the Nurses council of Namibia to ensure that every nursing training institute, follows the same curriculum followed by government institutions.
Meanwhile, the former Swapo Party Youth League Education Secretary Hofni Iipinge, stated that Nursing institutions are for admitting qualified students who are trained to become qualified nurses that the government Will deploy in clinics and hospitals to render medical services.
According to him, curriculums are designed to train would-be nurses according to the objectives and competencies and to comply with the requirements set up by the national health council of nurses in Namibia.
He however added that the concern is very high as some of “these mushrooming institutions” are not training students with the high value of education that is expected.
Instead, he says, they are making business and this will contribute negatively to the health fraternity.
“My advocacy is to set up the same admission requirements across the board and the curriculum must be the same. Some institutions’ admission requirements are very low compared to the original government institutions requirements,” Iipinge emphasised.
He added saying that, “indeed we are producing a lot of nurses that’s why we have nurses that at times the country sends outside for employment purposes as our health centres cannot absorb them all”.
Some nurses are sent to Europe to be employed there and help out globally.
Iipinge also pointed out that the ministry of higher education has cut the number of nurses to be admitted in institutions.
This, he says is so that they do not graduate and be on the streets but rather encourage students to enrol in other needed courses.
As a government through ministry of health Iipinge said, there is a need to put up the admission requirements across the board and prevent some of the mushrooming health institutions.
“Most of them are here to make business and not really to train students. Quality should be our first priority. We need to give high health services to our people in our local and international hospitals for the betterment of our people in order to improve our health services that will boost the life expectancy of the people as a country and as a continent,” he added.
