KOHAT: Hundreds of students from the Nursing Department of Kohat University of Science and Technology (KUST) staged a protest on Friday, demanding the immediate registration of their department with the Pakistan Nursing and Midwifery Council (PNMC) and the introduction of a paid internship policy.
According to the protesting students, the future of nearly 300 nursing students was at stake as KUST had yet to secure registration with PNMC which they said was a legal requirement for nursing education institutions.
They said without this registration, the degrees awarded by the department hold no legal standing.The students pointed out that since the establishment of the Nursing Department at KUST, no formal registration process with PNMC had been completed.
The students urged the university administration to resolve the matter immediately to safeguard their academic and professional futures. They demanded the immediate announcement and implementation of a paid internship policy, which is a mandatory prerequisite for obtaining a PNMC license.
“A one-year paid internship is compulsory for nursing graduates to qualify for professional licensing, but this opportunity is not being provided to us,” a student said. The protesters also highlighted the department’s lack of proper infrastructure, stating that the Nursing Department did not have its own building.