Plea to revise nursing rules

Gangtok, June 17.TT: The Sikkim government will request the West Bengal Nursing Council to revise their admission rules so that students who have opted for health care science in Class XII can apply for general nursing course.

Officials of the state human resource department will meet the chairperson of the Indian Nursing Council and the director of the Bengal council in Kalimpong tomorrow to discuss the issue.

Around 200 students who opted for health care science at the Plus II-level cannot apply for the general nursing and mid-wifery course because the Bengal council rules state that admissions would be given only to those who studied physics and chemistry in Class XII.

The SNT Nursing Training Centre, the only college that offers the course in Sikkim, is accredited to the West Bengal Nursing Council. The institution has 20 seats for the GNM course.

Although the Indian Nursing Council, the governing body of nursing councils in all states, has recently revised the admission rules for the general nursing and mid-wifery course saying students who did not take up physics and chemistry could also apply for the programme, the Bengal council has not made respective changes in their rules.

Officials said the HRD department had written to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), which had introduced health care sciences two years ago, asking them to seek the Indian Nursing Council’s intervention. “We had written to the CBSE regarding the confusion over the admission criteria and the board has taken up the matter with the Indian Nursing Council secretary,” said an HRD official.

“We are hopeful that the matter will be resolved soon,” said a student.