The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) is eyeing to form an agreement with countries interested in hiring Filipino nurses for the grant of scholarships to nursing students in the Philippines.
Nursing students in their third or fourth year will be eligible for the program, JP Soriano reported on “24 Oras” on Thursday.
Apart from their tuition and other fees, the scholarship will also cover the students’ allowance and internship expenses.
The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) will roll out the program.
“Ang daming interesado na iba’t ibang bansa and we hope to be able to launch this with CHED before the month ends,” DMW Secretary Susan Ople said.
(A lot of countries are interested and we hope to be able to launch this with CHED before the month ends.)
Ople said her office is now coordinating with the health and labor departments to ensure that even if some have opted to work abroad, there will be enough nurses in the country.
For the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA), scholars should be mandated to work in the country for a certain period first before being sent out.
“They will invest in us through scholarship grants, so what could be in return for it? Syempre in return they will definitely offer the job placement for them to ‘yung mga grantees natin nung scholarship to serve ‘yung country na nag-offer ng scholarship so kailangan lang natin balansehen,” PNA president Melvin Miranda said.—Sundy Locus/LDF, GMA Integrated News
