Encourage children to do nursing courses- Museveni

President Yoweri Museveni has urged parents in Busoga to encourage their children to enrol for nursing and midwifery courses, saying they are globally competitive and marketable in the employment world.

"Here you are in the right place, the right time and in the right course. This is because we are not in the theatre of plays but we live in the real life. If you select the wrong course you will miss out on the labour market which is very particular," said Mr Museveni.

The President was on Sunday speaking at a graduation ceremony of 359students of Jinja School of Nursing and Midwifery (JSNM) in Jinja district. The ceremony also coincided with celebrations to mark 60years of JSNM.

The students were given different awards that included diplomas in comprehensive nursing, diplomas in midwifery, diplomas in nursing, diplomas in paediatric nursing and certificates in comprehensive nursing, among others.

The President who had previously laid a foundation stone for a multibillion grand library at Jinja Secondary School where he pledged Shs100million towards the project later unveiled a master plan for the nurses and midwifery school-Masese project and commissioned the school’s solar system.

“You are in the right place at the right time and on the right course,” Mr Museveni told the students, adding that their profession is in line with “real human life” and therefore, they were very unlikely to be unemployed.

He urged the graduates to demonstrate higher levels of professionalism in their practice and help improve the image of nurses that has been tainted by increased reports of unprofessional conduct by some nurses across the country.

“There are reports that some nurses act unprofessionally. For instance, I hear that when a pregnant woman is in labor pain, they (nurses) in some hospitals tell her to call the person responsible for her pregnancy, yet in the nurse’s anthem, they claim they are holy. Where do these unprofessional ones come from,” asked Mr Museveni.

The President said that government would engage all the stakeholders as well as the ministries of education and health to decide on the ministry to be entrusted with the supervision of nurses to ensure that Uganda produces the best nurses and midwives across the world.

The Education Minister, Ms Jessica Alupo also said her ministry prioritizes competence based training in health education and technical training with emphasis on training of instructors and career guidance.

In the next financial year’s budget, Government allocated shs68.7 billion for the implementation of the Skilling Uganda programme with workshops to be constructed at different technical institutes.