Deal or no deal?

As far as the retake of the nursing exams is concerned, it certainly looks like no deal so far. Notwithstanding hot air blowing among Malacanang, the Department of Labor and Employment, the Commission on Filipinos Overseas and the Professional Regulation Commission, it looks like all those who took the June 2006 licensure tests are going to have to cool their heels a little longer.

DOLE Secretary Art Brion says he will make an announcement not later than this Monday, regardless of whether or not the Court of Appeals (of which, it must be noted, Brion is a former member) has decided the case filed by several nursing associations that sought to nullify the results of the test.

But whether a DOLE Department Order will "put a closure" to the issue, as Brion hopes, is still an open question. The alternatives seem to be: no retake, as the PRC insists; a total retake, as Brion and CFO chair Dante Ang advocate; or a retake only in Metro Manila and Baguio City, as some lawmakers propose, on the basis of National Bureau of Investigation findings that cheating occurred only in those two areas.

The proponents of each side seem to have enough clout to paralyze government action on the issue, unless either the President or the courts put an end to the matter and decide once and for all. It’s time to let the proverbial shit hit the fan, if it must.

The Court of Appeals has issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting further oath-taking by successful examinees, this after about 6,000 of them (out of 17,000 plus passers) reportedly were able to take their oath as new nurses. In addition, it seems that many have left the country and are already working in the United States. It’s not likely they will be inclined to return to the Philippines, to take new tests which they could flunk.

On the other hand, there is the issue of whether the leakage of questions in Tests 3 and 5 "tainted" the whole exam, a consideration which is claimed to override all others including the supposed inconvenience and additional financial burdens of a retake. This taint has allegedly thrown great doubt on the reliability and credibility of our nursing exams, as well as on the government’s response to proven cheating.

The implication is that the nurses we send abroad, those in the 2006 batch of examinees, if not other previous batches, may have had dubious qualifications. According to CFO chair Dante Ang, this concern has been expressed to him by nursing authorities in the United States. Secretary Brion also says that similar concerns have been communicated by the European Union and Japan.

PRC chair Leonor T. Rocero calls these fears a "demolition job" by "intruders," a.k.a. Brion and Ang, who base their "misperceptions" on pure speculation, or worse. She regards the executive order transferring the PRC from the Office of the President to Sec. Brion’s DOLE as "improper."

This lady doesn’t mince words, and the consequence of her "intemperate" language may be her walking papers this coming week. The word is that her being the personal dentist of the President will not prevent here being axed.

The PRC chair, apparently supported by other commissioners, strongly asserts that any "taint" caused on the exams by the cheating has been remedied "because proper steps have been taken to correct the leakage based on the law..."

The PRC claims that consideration has not been given to the inconvenience and financial burden examinees would suffer, as a result of a retake. While the government is willing to waive the exam fee, the PRC asks about the sundry costs of interrupting one’s life all over again and preparing for another round of tests. For provincial examinees, it might not be possible to spend more money to come to Manila, especially since some are still paying for expenses they incurred last time.

For the PRC, as well as some nursing associations and passers of the 2006 exam who swear on a stack of bibles they didn’t have access to the leaked test questions, the only beneficiaries of a retake would be the review centers themselves, at least three of whom will be charged by the NBI as having perpetrated the leakages.

Most repeat examinees would have to go through review classes again, because not many feel confident they could hurdle new exams without review classes. Argues a PRC press statement: "Even if only the 17,821 passers reviewed this would mean a staggering P267 million, more or less. With 40,000 to take the test again, the review centers would laugh all the way to the bank while Mr. Ang scratches his head."

It seems to us that the choices left to government, Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo really because her desk is where the buck stops, are either a nationwide retake or no retake at all. A no-retake decision will mean a vote of confidence in the adequacy and comprehensiveness of those "corrective measures" taken by the PRC, as well as an affirmation that the exams have not been fundamentally tainted.

But if the determination of government is that the 2006 nursing exams were indeed wholly tainted, and that filing criminal charges against the guilty and taking other corrective measures do not sufficiently wash away the taint and put perceptions of the quality of our nurses in jeopardy, then the only logical step is to order a total retake for all successful examinees, not a retake limited to Manila and Baguio.

I understand it is now impossible to identify only the cheaters among the passers, so earlier suggestions that a retake be limited only to passers who did NOT cheat may be impractical. As to the extent of the leakage, although the NBI can only verify leaks in Manila and Baguio, there can be no assurance that leaks didn’t occur elsewhere, such as other parts of the country, as has been charged.

In addition, as long as the case against three erring review centers is pending, their accreditations should be withdrawn and they should not be allowed to conduct review classes.

Finally, it doesn’t seem to make sense to allow flunkers to try again. If they didn’t make it last time, with or without the leakages, they’ve had their chance and that should be it for them, until next time.