MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Higher Education has lifted a moratorium on new undergraduate nursing programs that was imposed in 2011 to help keep the quality of nursing graduates up.
The moratorium was put in place to address a boom in nursing, hotel and restaurant management and information technology courses at the time that the CHED said would lead to graduates who did not receive quality training and education.
Related Stories
"Yesterday, the commission en banc, after a very thorough review and study of the moratorium on nursing, decided to lift the moratorium on nursing based on an exhaustive discussion," CHED Chairman Prospero "Popoy" De Vera III said in a briefing on Wednesday.
He said that the CHED is encouraging state universities and colleges to apply for nursing programs, and consider including return-service agreements — contracts that would require students to serve in the Philippines for a set period after graduation.
READ: No shortage of nurses but low pay, lack of tenure driving them abroad
333 nursing schools in the country
Data collected by CHED showed that the country had a total of 333 schools offering nursing programs, as of July 2021. National Capital Region, Calabarzon and Central Luzon had the most nursing schools, at 62, 49 and 29, respectively.
De Vera, however, noted that the total number of enrollees in nursing schools declined through the years.
Fewer enrollees has also meant fewer graduates. There were 101,574 enrollees in nursing programs and 5,871 graduates in 2021 against 165,598 enrollees and 58,677 graduates in 2012.
De Vera said there were calls during the height of the pandemic to lift the ban "because of the perceived lack of nurses" in the Philippines to treat COVID-19 patients. Citing figures from the Department of Health, he said that the country needs over 200,000 more nurses.
Ideally, a country should have 27.4 nurses per 10,000 people in a population, according to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.
RELATED: Hire more and pay better, nurses say after woes brought up at presidential debate