The Ministry of Health, Gandaki Province, has initiated preparations to start the Proficiency Certificate Level (PCL) programs in Health Assistant (HA) and Staff Nurse, which could not begin last year due to procedural delays.
On the 16th of Asar last year, the Provincial Council of Ministers decided to run the HA program at Amppipal Hospital in Gorkha and the Staff Nurse program at Dhaulagiri Hospital in Baglung, in collaboration with the Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT).
A joint meeting held on Monday at the Ministry, attended by Health Minister in the province Laxman Bahadur Pandey, ministry officials, former Health Minister Krishna Prasad Pathak, representatives from the concerned hospitals, and CTEVT, decided to move forward with urgent preparations to implement the HA and Staff Nurse programs.
The Provincial Secretary, Khim Bahadur Khadka said, “Last year, we had prepared to start the classes, but due to delays in obtaining approval, it could not begin.” He added, “A decision has been made to immediately proceed with the process between the Ministry and CTEVT, and we are fully focused on it.”
Sharada Ghimire, Chief of the CTEVT Gandaki Province Office, said that preparations are underway to present a proposal in the upcoming meeting of the Council. She stated that the programs will begin once the Council, chaired by the Education Minister, grants permission.
“The proposal is ready and will be presented in the next council meeting,” said Ghimire. “Both CTEVT and the provincial government are fully prepared to teach Staff Nurse and HA.”
Gandaki Provincial Assembly member and former Health Minister Krishna Prasad Pathak said that the provincial government has already completed the management of infrastructure and resources so that the programs can be launched immediately after the publication of the Secondary Education Examination (SEE) results.
He added that the Health Ministry and CTEVT have also allocated the necessary budget. The number of seats will be determined after approval is received from the council meeting.
Along with the approval process, the Ministry has intensified technical and managerial preparations for running the programs. The Ministry stated that since both hospitals already have the necessary physical infrastructure and human resources, there will be no difficulty in starting the classes.
The pathway for running the Staff Nurse program opened after Dhaulagiri Provincial Hospital was upgraded to 100 beds last year. Similarly, Amppipal Hospital in Gorkha, where the HA program is to be conducted, has also been upgraded to 50 beds.
For the Staff Nurse program, theoretical classes will be conducted at the CTEVT building located in Baglung Municipality-14, while practical training will be held at Dhaulagiri Hospital.
However, some additional infrastructure is required for the HA program at Amppipal Hospital in Gorkha. The hospital, which falls under Palungtar Municipality, was brought under the provincial government only last year.
It is believed that starting the Staff Nurse and HA programs in these hospitals will be a significant achievement in terms of producing skilled human resources in the health sector.
The provincial government took this decision after several rounds of discussions at the Chief Minister and ministerial level with the top leadership of CTEVT regarding the start of technical education.
Preparations have also been made to provide full scholarships to students from low-income and marginalized communities from the provincial government.
The Health Ministry stated that emphasis has been placed on these programs as the number of students pursuing technical health subjects has been declining in recent times.
Since nursing, staff nurse, and other medical programs are not available at the district level, students from rural areas are forced to spend large amounts of money to study in major cities like Pokhara.
