Leak mars credibility of nursing exam
Leak mars credibility of nursing exam
By Florante S. Solmerin
The alleged leakage of questions in the recent nursing licensure examination has tainted the credibility of Filipino nurses and may have put their chances of landing a job abroad at risk, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration said yesterday.
“We are not being favorably considered to host the National Council Licensure Examination for Practical Nurses due to alleged forgeries and fraud in the licensure examinations,” Rosalinda Baldoz, the agency’s administrator, told the general assembly of the Federated Association of Manpower Exporters Inc. over the weekend.
“This [leakage] has trained the credibility of our nursing [board] exams,” she added.
The Philippines has been lobbying to host the NCLEX for the past two years, Baldoz said.
Baldoz said the controversy was making it hard to deploy nurses not only in the United States but other parts of the world as well. Even other skilled workers may be affected, she added.
To date, the country has deployed more than 100,000 nurses abroad, particularly to the Middle East, the United States and Europe, where Filipino medical workers are preferred.
The Philippines has 460 nursing schools, 40 of which have a zero passing rate in the board examination.
In the recent nursing licensure test, 23 of these schools failed to hurdle the minimum passing rate of 8 percent.
“If questions remain and doubts concerning our examination system persist, all Filipino professionals going abroad may be affected since their credentials would be subject to further scrutiny,” Baldoz said.
To avoid another leakage, Baldoz said the Professional Regulatory Commission should computerize the licensure examinations and install fool-proof security measures.
In a separate interview, the commission’s chief, Leonor Tripon-Rosero, said the more than 42,000 aspiring nurses who took the examination last month may have to retake it.
“That is an option,” she said.
Earlier, the agency confirmed that test questions had been leaked to students of a review center in Baguio City.
The commission said two members of its Board of Nursing had been implicated in the leakage and that charges were being prepared against them by a fact-finding panel.
FROM : MANILA STANDARD TODAY
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=politics06_july17_2006
By Florante S. Solmerin
The alleged leakage of questions in the recent nursing licensure examination has tainted the credibility of Filipino nurses and may have put their chances of landing a job abroad at risk, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration said yesterday.
“We are not being favorably considered to host the National Council Licensure Examination for Practical Nurses due to alleged forgeries and fraud in the licensure examinations,” Rosalinda Baldoz, the agency’s administrator, told the general assembly of the Federated Association of Manpower Exporters Inc. over the weekend.
“This [leakage] has trained the credibility of our nursing [board] exams,” she added.
The Philippines has been lobbying to host the NCLEX for the past two years, Baldoz said.
Baldoz said the controversy was making it hard to deploy nurses not only in the United States but other parts of the world as well. Even other skilled workers may be affected, she added.
To date, the country has deployed more than 100,000 nurses abroad, particularly to the Middle East, the United States and Europe, where Filipino medical workers are preferred.
The Philippines has 460 nursing schools, 40 of which have a zero passing rate in the board examination.
In the recent nursing licensure test, 23 of these schools failed to hurdle the minimum passing rate of 8 percent.
“If questions remain and doubts concerning our examination system persist, all Filipino professionals going abroad may be affected since their credentials would be subject to further scrutiny,” Baldoz said.
To avoid another leakage, Baldoz said the Professional Regulatory Commission should computerize the licensure examinations and install fool-proof security measures.
In a separate interview, the commission’s chief, Leonor Tripon-Rosero, said the more than 42,000 aspiring nurses who took the examination last month may have to retake it.
“That is an option,” she said.
Earlier, the agency confirmed that test questions had been leaked to students of a review center in Baguio City.
The commission said two members of its Board of Nursing had been implicated in the leakage and that charges were being prepared against them by a fact-finding panel.
FROM : MANILA STANDARD TODAY
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=politics06_july17_2006
