Following six additional nursing training colleges being accredited by the South African Nursing Council in the Eastern Cape, the province has allocated a budget of R343 million for production of more nurses. Eastern Cape is one of the areas severely affected by shortage of nurses with a nursing vacancy rate of more than 9 000.
The newly accredited additional campuses are: Andre’ Vosloo in Sommerset East, Midlands in Graaf Reinent, Dora Nginza in Port Elizabeth, Madzikane ka Zulu in Mt Frere, Settlers in Grahamstown and Dr Malizo Mpehle in Tsolo. This is in addition to the existing 21 nursing training colleges in the province.
Welcoming the new accreditations, EC health MEC, Sicelo Gqobana said, “this will boost our efforts to produce more nurses for the province. It is also in line with the Presidential mandate to re-open closed nursing colleges in the country.” We also view this as a huge boost towards our efforts to revitalise primary health care in the province.
The department will now train approximately about 2 000 nurses per year and the new training facilities will push the current intake by 360 student nurses per year. The department has also observed that, other race groups were not fully represented in the trainee population, to address this, the Health MEC has since instructed the department to ensure that all race groups are reflected in the intakes. Equally all residents of the province irrespective of the colour, race or creed are encouraged to fully participate when opportunities are opened.
Intake processes are already underway and adverts inviting members of the community to apply for these nursing training opportunities have been placed in various newspapers of the province.
The training areas are as follows – one year which requires a minimum of standard eight /grade 10, two year with a minimum weak Std 10/Grade 12 and a four year nursing diploma which requires a minimum of grade 12 with a minimum of D aggregate symbol plus minimum of 18 points.
The successful trainee nurses will be entitled to a monthly stipend of between R2, 500 and R3 000 for the duration of their training. Non performing students will be excluded on academic grounds during the training.
We urge unemployed youth who have passion or calling in nursing to grab this opportunity with both hands. The selection process will be closely monitored to ensure that all applicants receive fair chance following concerns on social media people complaining about exclusions in the past intakes.
The MEC is also planning site visits being accompanied by the principal of the department’s Lilitha Nursing College. All successful applicants will be required to serve the province for the equal number of years once they qualify.
For further information:
Sizwe Kupelo
Cell: 083 378 0196
