Who is to nurse the nursing schools?

100 schools issued notices to shut down this year for lack of infrastructure, faculty

Over 100 of the 560 nursing schools that come under the Karnataka State Nursing Council have been issued notices to shut down as the new academic year begins. The reasons being poor infrastructure, they are run out of a rented buildings and lack adequate faculty.

“Many of them continue to have websites and buildings even though they have no students at all,” a Medical Education Department source said.

The notices apply only to nursing schools, which come under the council, but many of them also run colleges, the source added. The colleges come under the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences.

“There is more demand for B.Sc. nursing courses rather than diploma courses. Besides, the demand for nursing schools in the State has reduced as many have cropped up in the neighbouring States,” the source said.

Even as the conditions of hundreds of schools and colleges of nursing remains below par, agents appointed by them continue to lure students from outside the State and various parts of Karnataka.

A 21-year-old student, who is in the fourth year of the B.Sc. course at Uttarahalli, said students were shocked when they landed on its premises. “The hostel does not even supply water. More importantly, what do we do if teachers skipping classes is a routine every week?” she asked.

Another problem, she says is that their nursing college is “attached” with a hospital that is 10 kilometres away, as a result of which the number of practical hours is too few. “We were supposed to have 375 hours of practical training this year, but we have had less than 120 hours,” she said.

Another student who studies in a nursing college in Koppal district said that she has always had to make “presentations” in her class. These presentations are supposed to make up for the absence of teachers. Shockingly, they have only two teachers for four years of the B.Sc. course.