Despite the need for more health personnel in the country as a result of the successes chalked so far by the National Health Insurance Scheme, which currently has over 50 percent coverage, the Nurses and Midwives Council is busily thwarting the efforts of 26 nursing students who are desirous of obtaining licenses to practise. The students, who have been trained by the University of Ghana, Legon, hold first degree honors (second class upper and second class lower) among others. But the NMC is alleged to be preventing them from taking an exam that will enable them practise due to some obscure reasons that the NMC itself cannot explain. Information available to The Statesman indicated that the students were admitted into the UG to pursue a four-year degree course in nursing, without them knowing that they had to write a licensing examination after the completion of the course. This paper gathered that towards the final year, the students were made to understand that they had to write the licensing examination but before that they had to undergo a year's training programme at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital for which they paid GH¢120.00 to cover their transportation cost and other things. The UG authorities, the paper was told, then brought in one Patience Avadu who coordinated the affairs of the students and the NMC. However, the lady was said to be swerving questions from the very students that she was brought in to help. As at press time yesterday, the students involved, who have been trained with the tax payers' money for the past four years, were jobless due to the wanton attitude of the NMC. Registration for the licensing examination ends on Friday, The Statesman understands. The Registrar of the NMC, Rev Veronica Darko, is said to be vehemently against the registration of the students. Information available to The Statesman also indicated that upon her orders, some other students who had already been registered and even given their index numbers, had had their names removed from the list. After several attempts to get the NMC to comment, the Public Relations Officer, Eric Mensah Ayettey invited this reporter to his office for a meeting but failed to answer any of her questions except to say that "my boss has not given me the go-ahead; she says the case has been forwarded to the Minister of Health, so no further comments." But checks by The Statesman at the MOH pointed out that the substantive Minister, Courage Quashiga, is currently out of the country and that when one of his Deputies, Abraham Dwuma Odoom contacted the NMC, Rev Darko stood her grounds and stated that the issue at hand did not concern the Ministry. Some of the students who spoke to this paper called on the MOH, NMC and UG to work together to resolve the issue quickly “because our future is hanging in the balance.” Source: Statesman