TimesLIVE reports that more than 100 nursing students who were given bursaries by the Gauteng Department of Health (GDoH) say they are in limbo as the department does not have funds to place them for community service and absorb them for employment.
The students from the Gauteng College of Nursing R. 171 programme began their studies in 2020 and were given bursaries by the department. They were the first group in the three-year nursing programme after it was introduced in 2020. Mpho Rantsu, spokesperson for the students, said the lack of further funding by the department has caused distress. “We feel misled and let down by the department. When we were welcomed into the course in February 2020 by then Gauteng health MEC Dr Bandile Masuku, we were assured we would be placed for employment on course completion. Not only are we under a bursary programme but we are trained under high standards of nursing education and training and it is common knowledge we have a shortage of nursing staff in South Africa, especially professional nurses. Not once did we think we would face being part of the high statistics of unemployed graduates,” said Rantsu. The nursing college campuses affected are Ann Latsky, Bonalesedi, Baragwanath and SG Lourens. The students are set to meet the department on Tuesday and have threatened to shut down all four campuses if they do not get a favourable response. Another issue they have raised is that in their third year they were allegedly suddenly told they had to write board exams before being professionally registered with the SA Nursing Council (SANC) as professional nurses.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Kgaugelo Masweneng at SowetanLive
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