Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said here on Tuesday that the government will continue increasing the seats for nursing courses in view of the spike in demand for trained personnel in the sector.
The government was committed to scaling up the opportunities in nursing education as there had been an increase in the demand for nurses across the world. For the first time, the government had introduced around 1,020 seats for the BSc Nursing programme in the government and aided sectors, he said in his inaugural address at the 100th year of the establishment of Government Nursing School, Ernakulam.
Praising Malayali nurses for the accolades they had earned worldwide, Mr. Vijayan said the total number of merit seats in the government and government-controlled institutions had gone up to 5,627 following the increase in the allotment of new seats. For the general nursing course, there had been an increase of 100 seats compared to the previous years as the total intake increased to 557 seats, he said.
The Chief Minister said the government would offer courses in foreign languages to help nursing graduates looking for opportunities abroad. The discussions on launching these courses were progressing with various countries and agencies, he said.
Minister for Health Veena George said in her presidential address that the State had been able to tackle various challenges, including the pandemic, through concerted efforts. The aim was to create maximum opportunities in the medical education sector internally, she said.
The Minister blamed a section of the media for trying to defame the Health department by publishing reports and photographs that lacked credibility.
