Arts and Commerce Background Students are Now Eligible for B.Sc. Nursing Course
MUMBAI – students from the arts and commerce streams are now eligible to apply for B.Sc. nursing courses. The Indian Nursing Council (INC), the apex decision-making body of all nursing courses and registered nurses, has decided to go for a revamp of the admission/entrance criteria for professional courses in nursing. It has come up with a draft proposal, permitting students from the arts and commerce streams to seek admission to the much sought-after B.Sc. nursing course.
The four-year B.Sc. Nursing Course, which hitherto was open to students from science background, class XII pass-outs with science subjects, is now open to arts, commerce stream students as well.
If the draft proposal comes into effect, the non-science background students will be eligible to apply for the professional course. The eligible students from arts and commerce streams will have to clear a competitive entrance exam. Those who have passed class XII with arts and commerce subject, scoring a minimum of 45%, will be eligible to appear for the entrance exam to 4-year professional course in any colleges across the country.
The draft proposal (amendment) was brought in following a decision to discontinue diploma course for general nursing and midwifery (GNM) from 2021 was taken. The proposal will allow admission to students from all given streams, ensuring placement to most graduates after finishing the three-year programme in nursing home and other nursing establishments
This is what a nursing college principal has to say over the development: “With the decision to discontinue GNM course, the entire gamut of nursing profession would have been gone awry declaring ‘out-of-bound’ the students of arts and commerce backgrounds in the country. The apex body’s decision allowing permission to arts and commerce background students for entrance to B.Sc. course has come as a welcome breather for them”
Dr Ramling Mali, a member of the council, said: “This is literally like doing away with B.Sc. programme and upgrading the GNM programme.”
