“Far Eastern University (FEU-Manila) topped the schools with more than 1,000 nursing examinees in the ranking with a passing rate in last year’s twin licensure exams with 74.62 percent.”
-CHED Chair, Emmanuel Angeles
Commission on Higher Education (CHED) chairman, Dr. Emmanuel Angeles on Monday said that more than half of the country’s nursing schools were performing below the national passing average with 47 of them located in the National Capital Region (NCR).
Angeles said 253 nursing schools nationwide were performing below the national passing average rate of 40.70 percent, adding that his data came from the licensure examinations administered by the Professional Regulations Commission (PRC) last June and November 2009.
Angeles said 47 of these schools were found in Metro Manila.
“It is part of CHED's commitment to monitor and evaluate the performance of nursing schools nationwide and to ensure the quality of nursing education in the country,” he said.
“This move is made to answer the clamor of the public and education stakeholders of a more informative background on higher education institutions in the country to aide parents and students in deciding which schools could provide them quality education and their money's worth,” he added.
Angeles said, “by providing the public with the list of the non-performing schools, they will be forced to improve their performance in the licensure exams. This is a wake-up call to our nursing schools to shape up or phase-out.”
According to Angeles, the erring schools will be issued an initial warning from the Commission to improve their nursing programs through their graduate’s performance in the succeeding licensure examinations.
He also said CHED will publish in provincial news dailies the name of the sub-standard schools per region as well as the ranking of schools all over the country in other professional examinations.
From 125 to 128 from 1988 to 1991, nursing schools swelled to the present 453 though many of the institutions are lacking in adequate facilities such as base hospital and laboratories as well as qualified faculty members.
Early this month, CHED said 147 nursing schools were also performing below the national average for the past five years.
Of the 147 schools, 132 were private higher education institutions, four were local universities and colleges (LUC) and the rest were state-run institutions (SUC).
Angeles identified the four LUCs as the Urdaneta City University (19.29 percent), City College of Tagaytay (20 percent), Pamantasan ng Cabuyao (43.36 percent) and the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Pasay with 30.26 percent.
CHED has started to crack down on erring nursing schools which lacked such basic facilities such as base hospitals, libraries, qualified dean and faculty and has raised the passing rate in the board exams to 8 percent from the previous 5 percent before they were able to secure permits from the Commission to operate.
In a related development, Angeles said the Far Eastern University (FEU-Manila) topped the schools with more than 1,000 nursing examinees in the ranking with a passing rate in last year’s twin licensure exams with [sic] 74.62 percent followed by Centro Escolar University-Manila with 71.86 percent.
Coming in third is Manila Doctors College with 69.63 percent, Manila Central University-Caloocan with 57.06 percent and the University of the Cordilleras (formerly Baguio College Foundation) with 56.11 percent.
In 6th place is the University of Cebu with 54.22 percent followed by the University of Pangasinan with 51.52 percent, University of San Carlos with 50.55 percent.
In 9th and 10th place respectively are the Western Mindanao State University and the University of the Visayas in Mandaue City with 49.79 percent and 45.72 percent.
In the schools with 10 and 99 takers, University of the Philippines-Manila, Negros Oriental State University in Dumaguete and the Bukidnon State College topped the list with a 100 percent passing rate.
In second place is the University of St. Louis-Tuguegarao with 97.37 percent, Central Mindanao University with 95.83 percent, Philippine Christian University-Manila, 88.89 percent, Saint Paul University-Quezon City, 84.85 percent, New Era University, 84.13 percent, Colegio De Sta Lourdez Foundation Incorporated, 83.33 percent, Lyceum of the Philippine-Manila, 82.35 percent and the Aklan State University with 81.48 percent.
In 10th place is the Saint Tonis College in the Cordillera Administrative Region with 78.57 percent.
