The Ogun State Government has announced that its Schools of Nursing and Midwifery spread across Abeokuta, Ijebu-Ode and Ilaro have been given full accreditation status by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria ( NMCN).
The feat which is the first of its kind in the 45 years history of the state came with an upgrade of the schools of Nursing and Midwifery to Collegiate.
Addressing a press conference in Abeokuta, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Tomi Coker, said that the Prince Dapo Abiodun led government had from its first day in office conceived the vision of making health attractive to all, noting that the priority of the present administration was to acquire full accreditation for all schools of Nursing and Midwifery across the state.
Coker said that commitment of the government informed the release of over N125 million (One hundred and twenty-five million naira) for comprehensive renovation and provision of modern training facilities in the schools of Nursing and Midwifery so as to fulfill the requirements of NMCN.
She said that the passionate pursuit of the state has yielded a number of positive outcomes including the full accreditation to all Schools of Nursing and Midwifery for the first time in the 45 years history of the State, pointing out that the upgrade of the schools to Collegiate had resulted in the change of its name to Ogun State Schools of Nursing Sciences thereby increasing the quota admission of students by 60%.
According to her, there are ongoing efforts with the Ministry of Education to conclude the approval of the National Board of Technical Education (NBTE) which will enable the college to award Ordinary National Diploma and Higher National Diploma (OND/HND) academic certificates to students.
“The last accreditation team was in Ogun State in 2017 wherein we got provisional accreditation, which had been the trend in the history of our Schools of Nursing and Midwifery.
“The two-year expiration for all the schools was in 2019. The Covid-19 pandemic, however, made it impossible for the NMCN accreditation exercise in 2020. Hence, the exercise took place in July 2021.
“I am therefore delighted to inform you that the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria has given full accreditation to ALL Schools of Nursing and Midwifery for the first time in the 45 years history of Ogun State.
“These diplomas will also come with professional certificates of Registered Nursing(RN), Registered Midwifery (RM) or Registered Public Health Nursing (RPHN).
“It is interesting to let you know that the NMCN also increased the quota of student admission by 60% from 220 to 350.
“Under the watch of the present administration, the pass rate in the final qualifying examinations in March 2020, May 2020, September 2020, November, 2020 and May 2021 was 100%. This is as a result of recent changes in our admission process where we have ensured that admission into the schools is strictly on merit without compromise on excellence,” the Commissioner said.
Coker further hinted that the government has ensured that students in health institutions are provided with conducive facilities and knowledgeable tutors coupled with devotion to human capital development and provision of quality and affordable healthcare services to residents.
