spot_img
28 C
Philippines
Thursday, March 28, 2024

CHED mulling partial lifting of moratorium on nursing study

- Advertisement -

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) discloses it is looking at selective lifting of the ban on new nursing courses.

CHED chair Prospero De Vera III said the CHED’s technical panel on nursing has been working on the new policy, which may be released soon.

“CHED is working with the DOLE (Department of Labor and Employment) and DOH (Department of Health) to determine the supply and demand for nursing graduates for a possible strategic selective lifting of the moratorium in key geographic areas and types of institutions and the Commission will issue the new policy soon,” De Vera said.

He said it has been several years now since they started the assessment, considering the demands brought by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

“The Commission on Higher Education has already recognized the need to review the 2011 moratorium on the opening of new nursing programs given the changing regional and global demand for health manpower over the past five years,” he said.

- Advertisement -

However, De Vera pointed out that a total lifting of the ban might be unfavorable, hence, the need for a “strategic study” before imposing a new policy.

“The lifting of the moratorium, however, must be based on a correct assessment of the supply and demand for nurses both locally and internationally… The unilateral lifting of the moratorium and allowing all higher education institutions (HEIs) to offer nursing will not address the problem,” he added.

CHED, in Memorandum Order 32 dated September 30, 2010, stopped the opening of all undergraduate and graduate programs in business administration, nursing, teacher education, hotel and restaurant management and information technology education beginning school year 2011-2012.

The moratorium was issued on the ground that the proliferation of the programs would cause “the deterioration of the quality of graduates of these five higher education programs.”

De Vera was reacting to criticisms by Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. who accused CHED of “stubbornness” against suggestions to lift the 11-year ban on the nursing program. Barzaga warned of a possible “dramatic escalation” of national and global shortage of nurses.

“It’s high time that CHED lifted the 11-year-old ban on nursing programs. We’re still in a pandemic and we’ve seen how badly we need more nurses and health workers as we continue to battle Covid-19. The CHED’s stubbornness is hurting the country; this is unthinkable,” Barzaga has said.

Barzaga said the CHED has “refused to act” on their request to open nursing programs at the Kolehiyo ng Lungsod ng Dasmariñas.

He stressed the need to act on the matter, considering the projection of a 4.6-million shortage of nurses worldwide in the next eight years.

As of March, the World Health Organization (WHO) said the “largest needs-based shortages of nurses include Southeast Asia and Africa.”
“There is a global shortage of health workers, in particular nurses and midwives, who represent more than 50 percent of the current shortage in health workers,” the WHO said.

The WHO noted that the world needs an “additional nine million nurses and midwives” by 2030, to address this issue, as well as advance the Sustainable Development Goal No. 3 on health and wellbeing.

- Advertisement -

LATEST NEWS

Popular Articles