Provincial schools veering away from nursing after scandal

By Vincent Cabreza
Inquirer
Last updated 05:25pm (Mla time) 09/04/2006

BAGUIO CITY -- Some colleges and universities in the provinces are putting nursing in the backseat in favor of agriculture and computer courses.

This appeared to be the common direction some schools were taking in Northern Luzon, Southern Tagalog, the Visayas and Mindanao, based on their output at a conference last week that tried to match world labor trends with college courses, said alternative teaching advocate Henry Tenedero.

Tenedero heads the Center for Learning and Teaching Styles (CLTS) Philippines, which organized the conference attended by representatives of 180 universities and colleges. The group advocates new teaching approaches.

“We did not embark on the conference by promoting one course over another. But the participating universities were already concerned about the long-term impact on the market of the cheating scandal [in the June nursing board examinations] here,” Tenedero said.

“The CLTS wanted to promote instead a business management approach to university course selections. Nursing may be a world demand now but after the nursing scandal, what happens? I have two nephews who took this exam and passed, and they are now adversely affected by the controversy,” he said.

He said the world offered a much bigger labor pie than the slice nursing got. He cited a Department of Labor and Employment survey that placed agribusiness and computer technology at the top of industries that would require a huge labor force in the future.

But many colleges had jumped on the bandwagon and focused on popular courses like nursing. He said it was remarkable to see a computer school offering nursing courses, but such initiatives must be weighed against the sustainability of the “fad,” Tenedero said.

“Schools must begin to operate like a business that offers knowledge,” said Tenedero, referring to the advocacy of Education Secretary Jesli Lapus.