Protocol List Stampedes Admission Into Nursing Colleges

Tall lists of protocol and interferences from persons in high authorities are said to be hampering admission into nursing training institutions and other public educational institutions in the country. Checks by The Chronicle reveal that the authorities of some public nursing training institutions often come under strenuous pressure to lower standards of admission, just to accommodate �protocols� from people at higher places, a development, which is said to be impeding the quality of products churned out by these institutions. In some instances, the paper has been informed by Principal of a Nursing Training College that protocol lists for the school covered almost 80 percent of available spaces for admission. According to the Principal, hundreds of eligible applicants have to struggle for 20 percent of the spaces left, leaving admissions into public schools at the mercy of the highest bidder. Similar systems are also being operated in other public institutions like the teacher training colleges, the Police Service, Immigration, Fire Service and Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority. �Every year we receive tall lists of protocols from various sectors like the chieftaincy, government officials, MPs and individuals associated with public institutions; we are sometimes helpless, and the pressure becomes unbearable,� the Principal, who pleaded anonymity, lamented. Bemoaning further about the unfortunate development, the Principal said sometimes they were left with no choice, but to kowtow to the reeling pressure from higher places, �because our jobs are also on the line.� �The pity, however, is the fact qualified applicants are denied access to pursue their cherished careers for no genuine reasons,� the Principal further grieved, stressing the need for a second look at the system, so that qualified applicants could be admitted to pursue their careers. The source lamented that unless such systems were nipped in the bud, enrollment into public health and educational institutions would continue to be the preserve of the affluent at the expense of the numerous deserving poor.