The Vanuatu College of Nursing Education will no longer enroll students until 2027, by then ideally we will have a better medical college with accredited courses and higher qualifications, that is the goal.
According to Thursday’s front page, this decision was enforced by the Ministry of Health upon recommendations made by the Vanuatu Qualification Authority after an audit was conducted on the college.
I read the external review report by VQA and in it also highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the college, there were 17 weaknesses and zero strengths.
Now let’s unpack this.
Daily Post has covered a wide range of nursing stories from a ridiculously imbalanced nurse to patient ratio to outsourcing of regional nurses to young nurses graduating from the college eager to help in the outer-islands.
All the while, the nursing college has been trying to have their courses accredited and recognized by VQA and the state but it has been an uphill battle for the past eight years.
The principal of the college Evelyn Emile mentioned that she had no say in the closing down of her school for the next five years and believes that there could have been a different option instead of throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
The same college that has “NIL” strengths and according to the report “the overall performance of the college has been judged as Poor” received over 600 applications to enroll into the college last year.
The same college that produces about 35 nurses annually.
The same college that stepped in when we needed nurses during COVID-19 and the students had to step-up and be hands on.
The same college that allows local nurses to openly ask questions and get practical experience to help them with their career. The same college that received VT30 million from DFAT for two classrooms and a lab.
This is the same college that was scrutinized by VQA for not having accredited courses and recommended that it closed.
Unsurprisingly enough students of the college who I spoke with disagree with the findings of VQA and believe that the college is vital in producing local nurses for the country.
Nursing college graduate who is now in the Northern Provincial Hospital in Santo, Margret Laban, said that at the nursing college she feels more comfortable asking questions, asking for explanations and seeking extra assistance when needed and is saddened by the news that the college will close.
Principal Emile added that now students would have to go to Fiji, Solomons or Philippines for nursing studies which are unfortunate since they repeatedly informed the Ministry of Health of their unaccredited battle but no assistance came.
“Yes, we raised these non-compliance in the past, we identified those parts and during graduation we made recommendation so I think they are aware.”
Granted there are flaws identified by VQA.
Granted there are areas that need to be resolved.
Granted there are changes that need to happen to assure the professional development of the students and the college, but cancelling the entire college and building a new one that worth VT2B won’t fix anything.
Why can’t we just bring in international tutors to help raise the standards of medical training?
Why can’t we work to have courses accredited and keep the doors of the college open?
In November 2021, Dr Sereana Natuman said Vila alone needs extra 153 nurses if the COVID-19 situation worsens.
Why are we shutting down a college when we are already short of nurses and midwives in the country?
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