Arroyo orders retake of nursing board exams

By Lira Dalangin-Fernandez
INQ7.net
Last updated 06:57pm (Mla time) 09/27/2006

(3RD UPDATE) PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has ordered a retake of the nursing licensing exams to restore the “integrity and respect” for the profession, which has been tarnished by a cheating scandal, a senior Cabinet official said.

Arroyo issued the order after meeting with officials of her Cabinet, the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE), and the task force on national council on licensure examination (NCLEX), Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita told reporters Wednesday.

"It was presented in the Cabinet meeting yesterday [Tuesday] and the President made the decision and agreed with the majority of those who spoke that, yes, let's allow the retake," said Ermita.

He said the labor department will soon announce when the exams are to be held. The PRC and the labor department will also decide whether all those who took the affected exams will be asked to undergo the retakes, Ermita added.

The order comes after a nursing review center disclosed it had leaked answers to some students who took the examinations last June.

The scandal rocked the country's medical profession and cast a shadow over the quality of its nurses, who are in high demand overseas, especially in the United States, Europe and the Middle East.

Some 42,000 students sat the June nursing examination and 17,000 passed.

Arroyo made the decision after Filipino nurses' associations in the United States said in a report that the "reputation of Filipino nurses has been tarnished," Ermita said.

A retake could “preserve the good reputation of our Filipino professionals,” said Ermita.

Arroyo signed an executive order placing the PRC under the DoLE following the alleged leakage.
Earlier in the day, Labor Secretary Arturo Brion hinted that a retake was in the offing.

Brion said he was scheduled to meet with PRC officials Thursday.

Brion said they would also collate reports on the ongoing investigation of the controversy by the Senate and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).