Chennai, July 18 (IANS). The Tamil Nadu government has taken steps towards expanding nursing education in a big way by opening about 1,500 new B.Sc Nursing seats in government medical colleges across the state from the next academic year.
The move aims to make professional nursing education more affordable and easier to pursue while meeting the growing demand for trained healthcare professionals in the country.
At present there are a total of 510 seats for B.Sc Nursing in six government medical colleges of Tamil Nadu. Students studying in these colleges pay only Rs 13,750 tuition fee annually, making government colleges a much cheaper option than private colleges, where the annual tuition fee can go up to Rs 1.20 lakh.
This expansion is being done in response to the continuous demand from students and parents to increase government nursing seats. Officials say the initiative is expected to reduce the financial burden on families and increase opportunities for students wishing to study nursing.
During the previous DMK government, initial work was started to start 10 new pharmacy and nursing colleges in the state. However, they did not reach the stage of implementing the proposal.
The present government has now decided to revive and expand the nursing and pharmacy education infrastructure of the state.
Under this scheme, it is proposed to start B.Sc Nursing course in 14 government medical colleges across Tamil Nadu. The institutions selected for expansion include medical colleges in Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Dharmapuri, Tirunelveli, Tiruchirappalli and Namakkal.
Medical Education Directorate officials said that the government has directed the department to increase the number of seats in undergraduate medical and dental programs as well as paramedical education.
This expansion aims to strengthen the state’s healthcare workforce by creating a larger pool of qualified nurses and allied health professionals.
Apart from the new nursing seats, the government is also planning to introduce more than 700 seats for pharmacy courses under the same expansion programme.
Officials are currently working on creating the necessary infrastructure, which includes classrooms, labs, hostel facilities and other academic resources.
Recruitment of faculty members and other teaching staff is also underway to ensure that institutions meet regulatory requirements before the courses start.
–IANS
OP/AS
