Monday, October 16, 2006 Local execs hail court ruling on nursing exam retake By Danilo V. Adorador III
LOCAL officials over the weekend hailed the Court of Appeals (CA) decision, saying it vindicated examinees from Cagayan de Oro and other testing centers not mentioned by authorities as areas where the cheating occurred.
At the same time, they called on education officials in the to tighten the noose on substandard nursing schools in Northern Mindanao.
In its decision last Friday, the CA ordered a selective retake of the nursing licensure exam last June, finding that there was no evidence showing that there was "widespread" leakage.
It also allowed the oath taking of successful examinees who were in the original list.
Cagayan de Oro Councilor Jose Benjamin Benaldo, chairman of the education committee, described the decision "fair," and said a "selective retake" was better than all examinees taking all the test all over again.
"The test was tainted, so the Court could have ordered a whole new retake. In this decision, the justices prudently took into account those who are innocent, just as we should push for the prosecution of those who are complicit," Benaldo told Sun.Star.
Councilor Maryanne Enteria, a lawyer, said a "selective retake" would "separate worthy passers from unworthy examinees," noting that it was impractical to pinpoint whether a specific individual had benefited from the leaked portion of the test.
The appellate court said only 1,687 examinees from the 17,821 board passers will retake tests 3 and 5 of the nursing board exam. It was not known if the list includes examiners who took the examinations from Cagayan de Oro, the region's testing center at that time.
These examinees are those whose names were added to the list of successful examinees after a recomputation of grades based on the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) resolution invalidating tests 3 and 5.
The two tests, according to the National Bureau of Investigation, were leaked to the examinees during the final coaching at three review centers -- R.A. Gapuz, Inress and Pentagon. R.A. Gapuz reportedly branches in Cagayan de Oro and other parts of Mindanao.
Meanwhile, Benaldo and Enteria called on the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to review the quality of instruction of all nursing schools in the region.
"If found out that they (nursing schools) can't produce quality graduates, then they should close shop at once," Enteria said.
Benaldo said CHED should take a closer look at nursing institutions whose passing rates have been found wanting.
Cagayan de Oro nursing exam passers who earlier staged a protest rally against Malacañang "retake" stance has yet to issue a statement on the CA ruling.
Malacañang said Saturday that Labor Secretary Arturo Brion is still studying the implications of the CA decision, which directed a retake of the test by those whose names were merely added to the list of successful examinees.
"We will wait for the final recommendation of Secretary Brion. The bottom line is to punish the guilty and spare the innocent," Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said in a radio interview in Manila.
Ermita said Brion is due to give his report to Malacañang this weekend, based on the final report of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), which had recommended the filing of charges against 17 officers and owners of three private nursing review centers for perpetrating the leakage.
In a separate interview in Manila, Brion said he will meet next week with NBI and PRC officials on their findings on the leakage. He wants to find out how the CA came up with the figure of 1,687 who will have to retake the tests on medical/surgical nursing and neuro-psychiatric nursing.
(October 16, 2006 issue) Write letter to the editor. Click here. Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here.
