Arroyo to nurses: Retake board test
Arroyo to nurses: Retake board test
Jade Ceres Dolor and Beting Laygo Dolor, Oct 04, 2006
MANILA – President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has ordered a partial retake of the controversial exam given to would-be nurses last June to restore the integrity of nursing education in the Philippines.
She promised to issue an Executive Order this week ordering the retesting. That EO might face legal infirmities, however, as there is a pending case before the Court of Appeals seeking to nullify the results of the exam as well as the oath-taking of those who passed.
Under the Arroyo order, the retake must be conducted before Dec. 3. Another nursing licensure exam is scheduled for fresh graduates and those who failed previous exams in December.
Allegations of cheating had resulted in a black eye for all Philippine nurses, with this year’s examinees saying they are unable to find jobs here and/or abroad due to the cloud of doubt that hangs over them. Filipino nurses are in great demand worldwide with the U.S. considered as the prime destination.
Examinees in Baguio City and Metro Manila had noted that the final test questions were similar to the questions used by a couple of review centers, specifically Tests III and V of the five-set exam.
The President’s decision was met with resignation for the most part with the topnotcher saying he would bow to the ruling, but on Monday (Sunday U.S.), some 200 examinees who passed the test marched in front of the Professional Regulatory Commission.
PRC head Leonor Tripon-Rosero has been vocal in rejecting a retake, saying that the nurses who passed through fraudulent means would be uncovered sooner or later.
A spokesman for the protestors, Renato Aquino, expressed disappointment “at the sudden turnaround of the President.” On August 27 and 28, when the controversy was at its peak, Mrs. Arroyo declared a no-retake policy.
“What pushed her to change her mind?” Aquino asked, adding that last week’s order to retake was done “without even consulting the PRC and the students.”
Of the 42,000 who took the exam conducted nationwide last June, some 17,000 passed.
While the partial retake order benefits those who failed to make the grade, the majority raised their principal concern which was the cost. An examination fee of P900 is charged for the test.
The national government may have to subsidize the cost of the retake, according to Malacanang.
Senator Ralph Recto has been pushing for a retake only in Baguio and Metro Manila, as this would minimize the punitive effect of the order. The National Bureau of Investigation has confirmed that evidence indicates that the leakage occurred only in those two areas.
“If there’s a robbery in Manila, would you take the fingerprints of people in far away Zamboanga?” he asked. “I don’t think the leaked questions were transmitted through mental telepathy.”
Labor Secretary Arturo Brion countered that “the integrity of the exam is not divisible.” The government, he said, was not questioning the integrity of the examinees but of the exam.
To pre-empt the differences between the labor secretary and the PRC chief, the Commission was recently placed under Brion’s office. Thus, despite her publicly avowed stance against the retake, Tripon-Rosero has no choice but to agree to the new policy.
For his part, opposition Senator Panfilo Lacson said Malacanang was acting too hastily.
“The CA has not issued any decision on the matter, yet Malacanang already made a decision. Why is it preempting the judiciary? Does it feel it is above a co-equal branch of government?”
Examinees such as Aquino are holding fast to their belief that a retake was an uncalled for punishment.
“We are all for the prosecution of those responsible for the leakage, but we passed the exams fair and square and should not be made to suffer,” he said.
In announcing the retake, Malacanang did not say why President Arroyo had taken a 180-degree turn from her previous stance. But having taken that new stance, the order must now be implemented, according to Dante Ang, chairman of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas.
There was some initial confusion when Mrs. Arroyo first announced the retake. The general public was under the impression that all examinees had to retake the entire set of exams. The Palace later clarified that only the suspected tests where a leak had occurred would be involved.
FROM: Philippine News
http://www.philippinenews.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=d93b1f8a6cf634875a7697f04a9ec4ce
Jade Ceres Dolor and Beting Laygo Dolor, Oct 04, 2006
MANILA – President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has ordered a partial retake of the controversial exam given to would-be nurses last June to restore the integrity of nursing education in the Philippines.
She promised to issue an Executive Order this week ordering the retesting. That EO might face legal infirmities, however, as there is a pending case before the Court of Appeals seeking to nullify the results of the exam as well as the oath-taking of those who passed.
Under the Arroyo order, the retake must be conducted before Dec. 3. Another nursing licensure exam is scheduled for fresh graduates and those who failed previous exams in December.
Allegations of cheating had resulted in a black eye for all Philippine nurses, with this year’s examinees saying they are unable to find jobs here and/or abroad due to the cloud of doubt that hangs over them. Filipino nurses are in great demand worldwide with the U.S. considered as the prime destination.
Examinees in Baguio City and Metro Manila had noted that the final test questions were similar to the questions used by a couple of review centers, specifically Tests III and V of the five-set exam.
The President’s decision was met with resignation for the most part with the topnotcher saying he would bow to the ruling, but on Monday (Sunday U.S.), some 200 examinees who passed the test marched in front of the Professional Regulatory Commission.
PRC head Leonor Tripon-Rosero has been vocal in rejecting a retake, saying that the nurses who passed through fraudulent means would be uncovered sooner or later.
A spokesman for the protestors, Renato Aquino, expressed disappointment “at the sudden turnaround of the President.” On August 27 and 28, when the controversy was at its peak, Mrs. Arroyo declared a no-retake policy.
“What pushed her to change her mind?” Aquino asked, adding that last week’s order to retake was done “without even consulting the PRC and the students.”
Of the 42,000 who took the exam conducted nationwide last June, some 17,000 passed.
While the partial retake order benefits those who failed to make the grade, the majority raised their principal concern which was the cost. An examination fee of P900 is charged for the test.
The national government may have to subsidize the cost of the retake, according to Malacanang.
Senator Ralph Recto has been pushing for a retake only in Baguio and Metro Manila, as this would minimize the punitive effect of the order. The National Bureau of Investigation has confirmed that evidence indicates that the leakage occurred only in those two areas.
“If there’s a robbery in Manila, would you take the fingerprints of people in far away Zamboanga?” he asked. “I don’t think the leaked questions were transmitted through mental telepathy.”
Labor Secretary Arturo Brion countered that “the integrity of the exam is not divisible.” The government, he said, was not questioning the integrity of the examinees but of the exam.
To pre-empt the differences between the labor secretary and the PRC chief, the Commission was recently placed under Brion’s office. Thus, despite her publicly avowed stance against the retake, Tripon-Rosero has no choice but to agree to the new policy.
For his part, opposition Senator Panfilo Lacson said Malacanang was acting too hastily.
“The CA has not issued any decision on the matter, yet Malacanang already made a decision. Why is it preempting the judiciary? Does it feel it is above a co-equal branch of government?”
Examinees such as Aquino are holding fast to their belief that a retake was an uncalled for punishment.
“We are all for the prosecution of those responsible for the leakage, but we passed the exams fair and square and should not be made to suffer,” he said.
In announcing the retake, Malacanang did not say why President Arroyo had taken a 180-degree turn from her previous stance. But having taken that new stance, the order must now be implemented, according to Dante Ang, chairman of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas.
There was some initial confusion when Mrs. Arroyo first announced the retake. The general public was under the impression that all examinees had to retake the entire set of exams. The Palace later clarified that only the suspected tests where a leak had occurred would be involved.
FROM: Philippine News
http://www.philippinenews.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=d93b1f8a6cf634875a7697f04a9ec4ce
FILIPINOS TO ARROYO: RE-COUNT!! OR BETTERYET, RE-ELECTION!!!
Posted by
Anonymous |
7:47 PM
Mrs. President, please dont ignore those people who went to the philippines from other countries just to take the local nursing boards and passed. We have spent a fortune going back there. anyway, the dollars we will be sending to our parents in the philippines soon will boost ur reserves again. I am now here in Vancouver Canada and waiting for my local registration to practice nursing here. Please we appeal to your motherly instincts.
Posted by
Anonymous |
7:00 AM
Mrs. President... we know that DANTE ANG provided you a one sided presentation during your cabinet meeting... Don't close your door to the victims - the June 2006 NLE passers.... hear us out first... allow us to prove to you that we are competent NUrses! give us our RN licences!
the STIGMA was created in the media by the likes of DANTE ANG himself... PRC did a good job of removing 'Leakage part' of the exam... and increasing the passing rate allowing more students to pass than what was originally intended....
Posted by
Anonymous |
2:23 PM