The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) pushes through Monday with the oath-taking of examinees who passed the leakage-tainted nursing board examinations last June following the favorable decision by the Court of Appeals (CA) before the weekend.
"We would like to administer the oath to all of those who will come to the PRC. If they want a mass oath-taking, we can schedule one," said PRC Chairman Leonor Rosero.
Malacañan on Sunday said it wanted closure to the nursing test controversy as officials vowed to implement measures to strengthen the nursing profession.
The PRC had already administered the oaths to around 3,000 examinees nationwide when the CA issued a temporary restraining order on August 18 in response to a petition filed by various groups led by Rene Tadle of the University of Sto. Tomas College of Nursing.
Rosero said the PRC would no longer wait for the next legal action of Tadle’s group, which is reportedly studying whether it should ask the CA to reconsider its ruling.
"The order of the CA is for us to administer the oath-taking. We’ll just be following the order," Rosero said.
The CA earlier ruled that more than 17,000 nursing graduates who passed the licensure test conducted last June 11 and 12 can take their oaths because none of them appeared to have benefited from the cheating, based on the findings of the PRC’s Board of Nursing.
The CA had nullified a re-computation done by the PRC to cleanse the test of the effects of the leakage. As a result of the re-computation, some 1,600 examinees who failed the test passed while almost 1,200 who passed, flunked.
CA justices ruled that the 1,600 initial flunkers would have to retake Tests 3 and 5 of the licensure examination.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said President Arroyo had directed Labor Secretary Arturo Brion, Commission on Higher Education Chairman Carlito Puno and Rosero to enforce measures to safeguard licensure tests from cheating.
Presidential chief of staff Michael Defensor said the CA order for a selective retake of the test was fair to all concerned.
"We hope that this will be the end of the controversy and we will see closure after all we abide by the CA ruling, which is not only what was the President’s position all along but is also fair to all those affected," he said.
In a telephone interview, Rosero said the PRC is happy with the CA decision that favored the interest of a majority of passers who the commission believes are innocent.
The PRC estimates that only 2,000 to 3,000 examinees had access to the leaked test questions but their identities would be difficult to establish because there was no clustering of high grades recorded.
Rosero said the PRC commissioners will meet Monday to come out with a list of the 1,600 examinees that would have to retake Test 3 and 5. The list will be posted on the PRC website.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson urged the PRC to make sure that none of the examinees who cheated are given a second chance and be allowed to retake Test 3 and 5. Lacson said the nursing graduates who actively sought the leaked questions have cheated and do not deserve a second chance.
"I think authorities should go one step further. Those found to have actively solicited the leakages do not deserve a second chance and should be flunked. Why give them a second chance if it was clear they cheated? The great majority of examinees did not cheat," he said in a statement.
Lacson also lauded the Court of Appeals for its order for a selective retake, saying it was much better than the previous plan of Malacañan to conduct a retake of the full licensure test.
Lacson pointed out that most of those who passed the June board examination did not even enroll in review centers.
"Those who are found guilty should be meted the full force of the law, those who reviewed by themselves and did not go to the review centers do not deserve to be punished (with a retake)," he said.
CA decision respected.
Malacañan said it would respect the CA decision, but said it will wait for Labor Secretary Arturo Brion to issue his final recommendation on the matter this week.
Palawan Rep. Abraham Mitra urged the government Sunday to padlock nursing schools with poor passing rates in licensure examinations.
He said the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) should not allow nursing schools to operate if a majority of their graduates fail in board examinations.
Mitra said the commission should impose a benchmark for the passing rates of nursing schools in licensure examinations.
"If, for instance, fewer than half of their nursing graduates pass the licensure examination, then the schools should be padlocked, that is if they are offering only a nursing course," he said.
However, the schools could be allowed to continue operating if they offer other courses but the schools should not be allowed to offer nursing, he added.
Mitra said the government has the duty to protect students from schools whose only objective is to make profit and do not really promote education.
"We have to be fair to parents who sell a piece of land or a carabao to send [a] son or daughter to school," he said.
He said after the demand for Filipino health workers increased abroad, many entrepreneurs have set up schools offering medicine, nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and caregiver courses.
He said even computer schools took advantage of the demand and suddenly offered nursing courses.
Graduates of many of these institutions have failed in licensure examinations compared to established medical and nursing schools, he said.
"You just have to look at the list of schools and their passing rates in the June nursing examination or the July physical therapy (PT) test," he added.
He pointed out that in the PT examination, most of the schools with examinees have a passing rate below 50 percent. With Jess Diaz, Christina Mendez, Paolo Romero
