Government Drops O-Level Sitting Restriction for Nurse Training Entry

The Government has scrapped the rule that required aspiring nurses to have passed their five O-Level subjects in a single sitting, after realising the condition did not reflect a student’s true academic ability.

Health and Child Care Minister, Dr Douglas Mombeshora, told Parliament on Wednesday that nursing schools will now consider applicants with more than one O-Level sitting, while also ensuring that at least half of their intake comes from the local community where the institution is based.

“In the past, we only admitted candidates who obtained the required subjects in one sitting. We have since removed that restriction after noting that some students were disadvantaged because their parents could not afford to pay for all subjects at once. This does not mean they failed, only that circumstances were difficult,” Dr Mombeshora explained.

The minister was responding to Mkoba legislator John Kuka, who had asked what measures were being taken to assist rural students who have struggled for years to secure places in nurse training schools despite qualifying.

Dr Mombeshora highlighted that the quota system introduced in 2024 was designed to improve fairness by giving districts equal representation in the training of nurses. However, he acknowledged that demand remains far higher than the number of places available due to shortages of tutors, infrastructure, and ICT resources.

To address the gap, the ministry has rolled out e-learning at 23 of the country’s 73 nursing schools, with plans to equip more centres. It is also working on expanding training to private hospitals, alongside government institutions, to absorb more candidates.

“We recognise that many young people apply several times without success, and we are working to increase the number of training institutions. At the same time, we are in discussions with Treasury to ensure that nurses we train can be employed, with the goal of doubling the nursing workforce by 2030,” the minister said.