Twenty-three students of St. Francis School of Health Sciences, Namataba in Mukono district who missed out on Uganda Nurses and Midwives Examination Board-UNMEB cards are up in arms against the school management.
The students claim that the school management convinced them to join the institute on half bursary claiming that they had partnered with Mulago School of Nursing and Midwifery where they had applied for a diploma course but failed to join because of failure to raise the required tuition of Shillings 3million.
According to the students, they didn’t probe the partnership between St. Francis institute and Mulago school due to the half bursary officer until last Friday when they missed UNMEB cards and briefing session and realized that the institute did not qualify to offer diplomas in Nursing and Midwifery.
Sharon Namuswe, one of the affected students notes that management instead told them to accept seats for the paper set at the institute well knowing that they don’t have the mandate to give them final exams.
“If we accept to seat for the internally set papers we shall then be referred to as nothing instead of nurses since it is only the medical council with the mandate to give final exams.” She notes.
On Monday during the start of the exams, the institute paid for police deployment around the campus to prevent demonstration by the aggrieved students.
Mary Anna Yusuf, another student says that management has never been straightforward with them despite wasting their time. She wants the management to compensate them to enable them to join another nursing and midwifery institute.
Prillah Karungi, another student says that management failed to directly pass over the information to parents but instead directed students to inform them. She appeals to the Ministry of Education and UNMEB to intervene in the matter and provide them with an expeditious solution.
The Deputy Rector in Charge of Finance and Administration Geoffrey Kanima who is currently manning the school says he couldn’t comment on the matter until the entire management comprising the board and council of the institute is around.
The affected students joined St. Francis Institute on February 7, 2022, to study for a period of one and a half years for extensive students and direct student for three years. According to the admission forms, each student is required to pay Shillings 10,000 to the UNMEB.
It is also indicated that the external examination fee shall be paid every semester as determined by the examination body. Each of the students paid Shillings 250, 000 paid to the institute bank account meant to be paid to UNMEB for the entire examination process.
We have managed to establish that UNMEB approved St. Francis, Namataba to start admitting students for diplomas in nursing and midwifery in mid-April after the admission of students in February.
UNMEB is a semi-autonomous government body established in December 2005 by the Ministry of Education and Sports to streamline, regulate and also coordinate examinations and awards for nurses and midwives at both certificate and diploma levels in Uganda.
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