Allowing students from outside city to enroll not a solution: Tomas

REP. Tomas Osmeña (Cebu City, south district) has opposed to the move to allow students from neighboring towns and cities to enroll at the Cebu City Medical Center’s (CCMC) College of Nursing.

Osmeña said he does not favor the idea considering that the school is being subsidized by the City Government.

“That money is for the city,” he said in an interview.

Every year, the City gives money to the school for its operations, particularly for the salary of the 23 nursing teachers and four staff.

In 2011, the City gave CCMC College of Nursing P9.6 million for its operations, almost P11 million in 2012 and P12.5 million for this year.

The amount particularly covers salaries and wages, representation allowance, transportation allowance, subsistence and laundry allowance, productivity incentives and yearend bonuses, among others, of the 27 employees.

Last week, Councilor Roberto Cabarrubias filed a resolution before the City Council that seeks to allow non-residents of the city to enroll at the CCMC College of Nursing.

The move followed after Cabarrubias learned that the school enrollees have been decreasing for the past several years.

In 2005, its nursing students reached 467. For 2012, the school’s population has reduced to only 191.

The decreasing number of students, Cabarrubias said, had resulted to the decrease of the school’s annual revenue.

In proposing non-residents of the city to enroll, Cabarrubias believes it will help the school to be more sustainable.

Osmeña, however, said that to save the school from losing more money is not enough reason to allow the students from the neighboring towns and cities to enroll.

“What is the role of government? To make money? There is an aspect for that but it is never my intention to compete with the private sector,” he said.

Despite the decreasing enrollment, Osmeña said the school should focus instead on producing quality students and graduates.

Cabarrubias’ resolution is still pending before the council because of the lack of a clear guideline for the enrollment of non-city residents.