Dear Editor,
I have been following with interest the dismal performance of trainee nurses at their final state examinations. According to media reports, only twenty-three of the one hundred and eighty-nine students who recently sat the re-sit exams were successful. This is consistent with a pattern especially at the level of the Professional Nursing Programme in which over half of the students fail in one or more of the examinable areas, both at the academic and clinical levels.
As a former teacher, I found this to be most interesting, which in my view, warrants an investigation as to the reasons for such an unsatisfactory performance. Something seems fundamentally wrong, not necessarily with the students, but with the measurement and evaluation tools employed to assess student performance at examinations. Most, if not all, of the students satisfy the minimum entry requirements for admission to the programme and it is difficult to understand how, with a properly delivered curriculum and evaluation system, the failure rate is so high.
It seems that the current system of evaluation of student performance at our nursing schools needs to be revisited and an independent body should be up by the authorities to evaluate student performance and the teaching/learning environment.
The University of Guyana or the Measurement and Evaluation of the Ministry of Education could be requested to render assistance in this regard. Apart from the demoralization experienced and loss of potential earnings by nurses who fail, it is also an additional cost on the government to carry these students for another year or two.
Yours faithfully,
Hydar Ally
