THE Ministry of Education is the latest to speak out on the bogus nursing school scam and Education Minister, Shaik Baksh, in an invited comment, stated empathically that he made no confirmation of the school’s legitimacy to offer nursing and allied health programmes.
“There is a difference between registration and accreditation,” he stressed. According to him, registration does not mean the programmes and certificates of the school are accepted.
The matter came to light when several students visited the Health Ministry last week and reported that a woman, Nanda Kissoon, defrauded them into paying monies for a nursing course.
The students paid $4,000 for registration and $7,500 each month to secure the qualifications they wanted. They were told that they would be able to complete a three year programme in just 12 months.
Many of the victims turned to this programme because they were not in possession of all the requirements for entry into other nursing programmes – they fell short with the qualifications secured at the secondary level.
The woman, under another name, in 2009, was involved in a similar scheme which was exposed by the Health Ministry. She was later taken into police custody following the allegations, but nothing came of it.
Baksh stressed that the school is registered, but not accredited.
In last Wednesday’s edition of the Stabroek News, Kissoon placed an advertisement that read: “School of Nursing – Lot 5 Cummings Street, Georgetown, has registration with the Ministry of Education National Accreditation Council, by law to operate legally. All certificates issues by the school are legitimate and valid. Minister of Education, Mr. Baksh, has confirmed this. Any other clarifications please contact the Ministry of Education National Accreditation Council.”
The advertisement ended with a note that said the school is aware that persons are spreading false rumors and alleged that these persons are out for personal gains due to close affiliation with another school.
A subsequent statement issued by the Education Minister read: “The National Accreditation Council wishes to inform the public that neither the School of Nursing nor its programme has been accredited by the National Accreditation Council in accordance with clause 3 (c) of Act No.12 of 2004 . Further, take note that the certificates of School of Nursing have not been evaluated to determine whether they meet recognized standards for accreditation.”
Currently, the institutions offering legitimate nursing or health courses are: the University of Guyana, the Schools of Nursing of the Ministry of Health at Linden, New Amsterdam and Georgetown, the Ministry of Health’s training Annex, the St. Joseph Mercy Hospital and Davis Memorial Hospital.
In an invited comment, one of the scam’s victims, Ms. Odessa Cameron, said she saw an advertisement for the training and registered in the latter part of December, paying over $25,000 since.
She said, “I suspect something was wrong and went to the Ministry of Heath last week and then find out what is what…when I went back the woman put me out of the class and said not to come back.”
Cameron described Kissoon as a very persuasive person who would go to lengths to justify her contentions.
“She had a big party, cutting cake and all at the school. She said she get her papers and was celebrating,” Cameron said.
Kissoon continues to insist that her operations are legitimate and paid a visit to the Guyana Chronicle to press her case, saying that she has papers to back her claims.
The Health Ministry, in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour and the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, has since assisted the victims of the scam with a free six-month training, which will better position them for careers in the health sector.