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By William B. Depasupil, Reporter
NURSES who passed the
leak-blighted June 2006 board examination but who choose a general
retake instead of just Tests 3 and 5 will not be covered by the
P20-million subsidy for the retake.
Labor Secretary Arturo Brion made
the clarification Thursday as he announced that starting next week
the Department of Labor and Employment would start posting the
schedule of review classes and application forms would be made
available to all DOLE regional offices.
The American Nursing Association
has said it favors a general retake for nurses applying for work in
the US.
“Those who wanted a general
retake may do so on their own, not at the expense of the
government,” Brion told reporters.
“The voluntary retake for Tests
3 and 5 will be handled by the labor department to enable those who
wish to work in the United States to qualify for a VisaScreen
certificate,” he said.
A VisaScreen certificate is
required by the US Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing
Schools for foreign-national nurses who seek occupational visas
under US immigration law.
Brion said DOLE would only focus
on Tests 3 and 5 as mandated by Executive Order 609, stressing that
a general retake already pertains to licensure, which is under the
Philippine Regulatory Commission.
The PRC, Brion added, has passed
a resolution that those who passed the June 2006 exam but who want
to take another examination to totally erase the stigma of the
leakage may do so after signing a waiver on the license already
issued to them.
EO 609, which President Arroyo
signed on Wednesday, gives DOLE the authority to administer the
voluntary retake of Tests 3 and 5.
The President also directed the
labor department to allocate P20 million for the administration of
the voluntary, special and partial nursing licensure exam.
Likewise, Brion clarified that
all nursing review centers that were involved in the leakage would
not be included among the accredited schools that would administer
the review for Tests 3 and 5.
Mrs. Arroyo instructed the PRC to
waive the fees for the June 2006 batch of examinees who will retake
the test either in June or December.
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