The Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria has cancelled the Preliminary Training School (PTS) for nurses in Abia State, following irregularities noticed at the examination hall.

The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Ngozi Okoroafor, broke the news of the postponement yesterday at a press conference in Umuahia, saying that the examination has been suspended indefinitely.

The controversial PTS examination had been cancelled last month and rescheduled for December 4, 2023, only for the exercise to run into another turbulent water.

Dr Okoronkwo stated that things got out of hand as a protest erupted at the computer based centre (CBT) where the entrance examination was taking place, thereby scuttling the rescheduled examination.

She blamed the problem on the over bloated admission of nursing students carried out by unscrupulous school of nursing principals under the immediate past administration.

“This admission happened in April, so they were already in school when we came in. The schools were supposed to have taken at least 75 students only for the training institution, but what we met on ground was 420 students,” she said.

The commissioner said that the unwieldy situation was what “we met on ground” hence “we are trying to manage” it, adding that “we didn’t create it but we have to find solution.”

Okoronkwo further explained that following the protest, “the Nursing Council stepped in, sent a Director from Abuja, we held a meeting with them and they said, for the students to take the exams, they must be sure” of their qualifications.

“We have to now follow strictly the guidelines, that the first thing first, would be to verify that they have correct WAEC result,” she said, adding that the process of verifying the results were initiated immediately.

However, it appeared that the Principals of the two Nursing Schools at Amachara and Umuahia sabotaged the process by bringing names of more students after they had initially admitted that all qualified students had been cleared for the examination.

According to Okoronkwo, 500 students were cleared out of the over 700 names provided along with the accompanying documents only for additional people to invade the exam centre while the examination was already in progress.

She said that everything possible would be done to ensure that the process was transparent, adding that she was making efforts to liaise with the Nursing and Midwifery Council to find a way out of the impasse.

“I want everybody that is qualified to participate. I want everybody that is qualified to take the examination,” the Health Commissioner said. (THISDAY)

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