Maputo, 18 Mar (AIM) –The Mozambican Association of Nurses (OEM) has warned that it will not acknowledge certificates obtained by nursing students at the ISCED Open University, a private higher education institution which only provides online lessons.
According to the head of the OEM, Maria Lourenço, online lessons are not compatible with current nursing practice, considering that ISCED lacks a laboratory for students to combine theoretical knowledge with practice.
“Even face-to-face training is a challenge for the government to reinforce in order to overcome some existing difficulties. It is acknowledged that the practice of nursing is sensitive to the life of the human being. Its failure can have irreparable consequences”, Lourenço said.
Lourenco claimed that the online teaching method adopted by ISCED does not offer the acquisition of practical knowledge that can dignify the nursing sector, because “if the training is not compatible, bad nurses will come out and consequently contribute to the poor quality of health care.”
“The Association will not acknowledge qualifications based on this type of training. Consequently, it will not register those who studied there to acquire a professional licence, which will not allow them to practice the profession, change careers or be absorbed into the National Health System (SNS)”, Lourenco said.
The government, through the Health Ministry, will not also acknowledge certificates obtained by nursing students at UNISCED.
“In meetings between the Association of Nurses, the Health Ministry, as the entity that absorbs these trainees, and the Higher Education Quality Assessment Council, it was reiterated that no distance learning is approved for health courses”, she explained.
However, UNISCED spokesperson, Zacarias Magibire, told reporters that there are misunderstandings around the subject, “because the nursing course is aimed at health professionals who already have some experience and not at beginners, as has been rumored.”
Magibire also accuses the OEM of slander and defamation.
“The OEM is an association of health professionals. It does not grant accreditation for the courses offered by universities. Naturally, the OEM only checks if the professionals trained at the universities have the acquired skills to carry out their function”, Magibire said.
(AIM)
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