Seat vacancy for nursing course dips to 2.3% in 2022 from last year’s 64%

Mumbai: After being ignored for several years, nursing course have regained its popularity among the students

Mumbai: After being ignored for several years, nursing course have regained its popularity among the students. As per the statistics shared by Maharashtra State Common Entrance Test (CET) Cell, the seat vacancy for nursing stands at mere 2.3% this year.

Seat vacancy for nursing course dips to 2.3% in 2022 from last year’s 64%

Significant difference from last year, when nearly 64% seats remained vacant after four rounds of admissions before the CET cell allowed colleges to fill up seats at the institute level.

While this dip in seat vacancy is being welcomed by many, heads of nursing colleges are still sceptical and feel this might be temporary.

“Admissions to medical and dental courses started very late this year, and several low scoring students knew that they would not manage to get admission in medical colleges, so there’s a chance that such students have opted for nursing courses as a stop-gap arrangement. There’s a possibility that these students might appear for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG) again next year and surrender these seats in nursing colleges,” informed principal of a nursing college in Latur.

For years now, nursing colleges have been witnessing a dip in demand. Statistics shared by the state CET cell shows how in nursing, seat vacancy stood at 56% in 2016-17, 42% in 2017-18 and 32.5% in 2019-20.

“For the past few years, admissions to all paramedical and other courses in Maharashtra, including bachelors in Ayurveda, physiotherapy, nursing, etc take place only once the admissions to medical and dental courses end. This leaves even the interested students running to book seats in institutes in other states instead of Maharashtra,” said Dr Ramling Mali, member of Indian Nursing Council, and former president of Maharashtra Nursing Council.

Admissions to MBBS and BDS courses for the 2021-22 academic year started in the month of January this year, after a four-month delay. This meant that the admissions to allied courses including nursing, physiotherapy, ayurveda etc started only in February. This, say experts, needs to change in order to bring the profession of nursing on par with other paramedical courses.

Covid-19 pushed the need for medical professionals to a new high across medical facilities in the country this year. In the peak of the fight against Covid-19 last year, Maharashtra had requested for nurses to be brought down from Kerala to help in state hospitals. Experts said the dearth of nurses has happened after years of under-paying nurses in several hospitals in the state.

“Anyone who has spent three-four years, especially with the hope of joining a noble profession, is expecting a decent salary. But several nursing homes in Maharashtra pay not more than ₹8,000-10,000 per month to nurses. Even maids make better money,” added Mali. He said over the years, more nursing students have been moving to other states or countries in the Middle-East with hope of better pay.

While filling up of vacant seats is one part of the problem, filling seats with eligible candidates is also an important factor which some experts feel nursing colleges have not followed this year. Many are worried that this low seat vacancy might be an ‘eye-wash’ while the real situation could be very different.

“As per the Indian Nursing Council, after the CET common admission rounds, all colleges had to finish filling up vacant seats at the institute level by March 31. This was impossible because the CET rounds ended on March 28 and nearly 35-40% seats were vacant in colleges at that time,” said Dr Balasaheb Pawar, president Maharashtra Nursing Association.

He added that the association filed a petition in the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay high court and managed to get the admission deadline extended by a week, with the hope of giving students and colleges enough time to complete the admission process. “Within a week, colleges are now claiming that they managed to fill up most vacant seats, but my fear is that in order to do so, many institutes have not followed the necessary eligibility criteria and given admission to interested students, with or without the NEET marks,” added Pawar.

A student has to clear the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) to be eligible for any medical or paramedical courses. “By filling up seats and not following eligibility criteria, nursing colleges are ruining the quality of education in the state, and sadly, the CET cell or medical education department is not bothered to check these figures,” added Pawar.

An official from the state CET cell refuted claims that colleges are not following eligibility criteria. “At the time of admissions, colleges have to ask for documents that include NEET marks, without which a student’s admission is not confirmed. If there are cases of foul play, people should come forward and complain to the cell and we will look into the matter,” said the official.