No phasing out nursing diploma course: Centre

No phasing out nursing diploma course: Centre

Hemali.Chhapia@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:  29.10.2020 

In a huge respite for nursing aspirants across the county, the ministry of health and family welfare has “not found feasible” the plan to stop the popular General Nursing and Midwifery (GNM) course. This means, the Indian Nursing Council, which has stopped giving permission to start new GNM colleges across India since 2019 to phase out the diploma programme from 2020-21 academic year, will have to roll back its plan.

The GNM course, which has produced close to 1.2 lakh nurses so far, is a popular entry point for thousands of humanities and commerce high school graduates who want to shift to health sciences. Around 3,000 GNM nursing schools across the country offer the three-year diploma programme.

According to a March 14 notification issued by the council, the last admission for the GNM course was to be the 2020-21 academic year. But, several nursing associations had expressed concerns that the closure would have led to a shortage of nursing staff, especially in rural areas. There was to be an economic impact too as the Indian Nursing Council (INC) had plans to upgrade all GNM colleges to BSc nursing institutes, which would have meant that aspirants would have had to shell out more for a nursing degree.

“The matter has been examined in the ministry and it has not been found feasible to stop entry to GNM courses at this stage, and the proposal has not been acceded to,” said the ministry’s circular, a copy of which is with TOI.

INC member Ramling Mali said, “GNM graduates are more willing to work in rural areas, as also in non-branded hospitals. The notification from the ministry to not permit the discontinuation of the GNM course rings respite to thousands of nursing aspirants.”

Many feel that healthcare costs would have risen too. A BSc degree costs Rs 3-5 lakh, while a GNM course costs about Rs 1 lakh. While the academic eligibility for BSc demands science in class XII, GNM is open to even those from non-science backgrounds.

“Upgrading GNM centres to BSc colleges and training the faculty would have all had a bearing on the total fees which would have made this course out of reach for many. For the rather poorer section of the society, the professional degree of nursing is all that they can afford,” said Dr Balasaheb Pawar, president of Maharashtra’s Private Nursing Schools and College Managements’ Association. He said he received support from Dr Bharti Pawar, who is nominated to the INC as a member of the Lok Sabha.