Aiming to improve nursing education in the state, the Kerala government will soon form an expert committee, which will suggest ways and means to improve the ever-dwindling standard in nursing education in the state. The members of the committee will be decided after a meeting with concerned departments.

Kerala Health Minister PK Srimathi had recently assured that the state government would take necessary action to improve the nursing education in the state. This assurance comes in the wake of the Eqbal Committee report, which had deplored the sorry state of nursing education in the state.

Speaking to Pharmabiz, the Minister said, that the roadmap for improving the nursing education in the state is yet to take the final shape. The government will soon constitute a core team to make the expert suggestions in this regard. The government is working on that, she said.

According to sources, the Minister has assured that steps will be taken to study the individual colleges where the nursing education is not up to the mark. Special attention to improve the condition will also be taken by the government. The Minister has also assured that a study would be undertaken on the condition of nursing colleges and means to improve it, with the help of the Universities in Kerala.

The Minister has also asked the State Nursing Council to study the problems being faced by the nursing colleges in the state and to bring them to the notice of the government on a regular basis. The Health Minister stressed that the interests and welfare of the students would be taken into consideration and the standard of nursing education would be upgraded for their benefit.

The Minister is taking keen interest in the upgrading the standard of nursing education in the state. The nursing education in the State is in a real bad shape, mainly due to shortage of teachers. Many of the qualified people are leaving for foreign countries lured by the salary package offered there. It is high time that the government takes some concrete measures to improve the situation, sources said.

As Pharmabiz reported earlier, one of the major issues concerning the nursing education in the state is the dearth of qualified teachers. The main reason for this shortage of qualified faculty is that after the BSc nursing course, many students leave for foreign countries in search of better jobs. Hence not many students are pursuing the Msc course in nursing.