EDITORIAL - It won’t matter

Cebu earned a feather in its cap recently after three of its Nursing schools posted a 100% passing rate during the November 2022 Nurse Licensure Examination.

Not only that, 20 examinees from Cebu landed in the top 10 of the same exam.

Congratulations are in order. There is no doubt we have excellent Nursing schools as well as brilliant Nursing students.

But now the important questions have to be asked. How many of these new nurses, both topnotchers and passers alike, can easily find jobs here? Not just in Cebu of course, but in the Philippines. And are they even willing to stay in the country or are they already raring to get the minimal experience so they can apply for jobs abroad?

Our bottom line is that it won’t matter how many licensure exam topnotchers in any profession or field we produce --whether it’s for Nursing, Engineering, Accountancy, or others-- if they won’t stay. Producing the best of the best won’t matter if we can’t offer them opportunities that will make them want to serve the country instead of working abroad.

Like we said in a previous editorial, so many of our workers are leaving to work abroad, contributing to the growth of foreign nations instead of ours. And we cannot fault them for doing so; the pay and the opportunities waiting for them out there are too hard to resist. At the same time it seems they are being taken advantage of here, especially our nurses.

Yes, it’s true that we can never be at par with other countries when it comes to what they dangle in front of our professionals in terms of pay, benefits, and opportunities for advancement. But perhaps we can start somewhere.

We are sure many of our professionals would want to work here --surrounded by the familiar climate and environment, but most of all family, loved ones, and friends-- if given the right incentives.

Again, it won’t matter how many top professionals we produce if only to lose them to foreign employers.