Govt bans students below 18 from nursing courses
R-L: Minister of State for Higher Education, John Chrysostom Muyingo, the Chairperson of Uganda Nurses and Midwives Examination Board (UNMEB), John Kennedy Wakida, and the Executive Secretary of UNMEB, Helen Mukakarisa Kataratambi during the release of the June 2022 final semester examination results in Kampala on September 8, 2022. PHOTO / FRANK BAGUMA
What you need to know:
- The directive was announced by the State Minister for Higher Education, Mr John Chrysostom Muyingo, during the release of the 2022 nurses and midwives examinations results at the Office of the President yesterday.
The government has banned nursing and midwives institutions across the country from admitting students below the age of 18.
The directive was announced by the State Minister for Higher Education, Mr John Chrysostom Muyingo, during the release of the 2022 nurses and midwives examinations results at the Office of the President yesterday.
Mr Muyingo said those who will defy the directive will be apprehended.
“All institutions should adhere to the set minimum standards and observe the set age limit. They should admit only adults above the age of 18 because only adults should work in health centres, not children,” Mr Muyingo said.
In a separate interview, the executive secretary of the Uganda Nurses and Midwives Examinations Board (UNMEB), Ms Helen Mukakarisa, said the policy has been in place but the ministry is just moving to implement it in institutions.
Ms Mukakarisa said expectant mothers in hospitals have been complaining and were not comfortable with children taking care of them.
“As a profession, we cannot take children of 16 years. Mothers won’t respect them so ethically, we need to admit learners above the age of 18,” Ms Mukakarisa said.
Initially, learners who complete Senior Four and do not proceed to A-Level have been joining nursing and midwifery programmes at a diploma level.
Mukakarisa said those learners who will complete Senior Four before turning 18 will have to wait until they reach the required age to apply for courses.
At the same function, Mr Muyingo asked institutions to respect the capacity of learners requirement set by the ministry.
“Those who want to start nursing and midwifery institutions must first get the licenses and should respect the capacity. If you are licensed to admit only 500 learners, you should not exceed that,” he said.
He added: “I ask the Permanent Secretary of the ministry to enforce this and apprehend administrators who will defy it.”
Results
Ms Mukakarisa said a total of 4,456 candidates (2,223 certificate and 2,233 diploma) sat for the exams.
Out of these, 4,079 passed the examinations (2,141 diploma and 1,938 certificate) while a total of 358 failed the examinations.
A total of 19 learners did not turn up due to failure to raise tuition while others were ill.
The board registered an improved performance of candidates who sat for the examinations in 2022 compared to those who sat for the exams last year at the diploma level.
There was, however, a slight decline in the performance of learners at certificate level.
The board, however, registered a massive increment in the number of students at all levels. A total of 1,097 learners sat for the same exams in 2021 compared to 4,456 who sat in 2022 hence a difference of 3,359.
Meanwhile, a total of 49,227 candidates sat for the continuing examinations out of which 43,851 passed and can progress to the next semester.
