Leak of Nurses’ State Final Exam...Minister still awaiting update of police investigation

Leak of Nurses’ State Final Exam…Minister still awaiting update of police investigation

Nov 29, 2016 News

– says talk of examination re-sit was premature

The findings of a police investigation into a reported leak of the 2016 Professional Nurses State Final examination papers is yet to be brought to the attention of Minister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton.
Minister Norton recently revealed that he is aware that a particular officer was assigned to the case by the Police Commissioner but according to him, “so far we haven’t any update on that (matter).”
This disclosure was made by the Public Health Minister during his most recent press conference.
Speaking about the matter, the Minister said that although there were earlier talks about a re-sit of the examination, this decision was in fact premature. The decision was taken by a Committee within the Guyana Nursing Council and not the Council itself, the Minister explained.
“They (the Committee) went ahead and made that decision without consulting the Nursing Council,” said Minister Norton, as he disclosed that the outcome of a statutory meeting that was set to be convened on Friday by the Guyana Nursing Council should have informed him of the progress of the situation.
According to the Minister, based on information that has been forthcoming from the Council there is not likely to be a re-sit of the examination.
At a press conference earlier this month, the Minister had shared, that persons could be charged and brought before the court for judgement if the outcome of an ongoing police investigation found them guilty of leaking the examination.
It was revealed by the Minister that thousands of dollars might have been earned from the illegality. He had disclosed then that he was hopeful that few persons were found culpable.
He had also shared his optimism that those who are culpable will be dealt with accordingly, and those who legitimately pass the examination will be allowed to maintain their results.
The examination, which is set by the Nursing Council, was conducted on October 19 and 20, 2016. A total of 250 Professional Nurses participated in the examination which usually caters to nursing students from the Georgetown School of Nursing, the Charles Roza School of Nursing, the New Amsterdam School of Nursing and the privately-operated St. Joseph Mercy Hospital.
However, the marking of the examination was stalled when it was discovered that there was a breach in the Clinical and Functional examination papers. It is not clear how the breach was uncovered, but the Minister of Public Health had hinted at the fact that students were more than likely not the only ones who will be found culpable.
“While it is the student nurses who are involved, yet there are other personnel involved, and we should also direct our investigation in that direction…you can only buy if you are being sold, and this is something that is handled by the General Nursing Council. We were informed that the papers were sold and if that is the case, then an offence has been committed that warranted an investigation by the police,” Minister Norton shared.
According to the Minister, the National Health Policy Committee of the Ministry of Public Health had met with the Chairman of the Nursing Council, the Director of the Division of Health Sciences Education and the Principal Tutor of the Georgetown Nursing School, to deliberate on the matter. But even then he disclosed, “We were unable to get pertinent answers to questions about this breach.”
As such he’d asserted that “we are of the view that no final decision can be made with respect to the re-writing of the examination until a proper investigation is completed.”