PTS Exam For Nursing Students, Cancelled – Abia Govt Says, Insists On Probe
The Abia State Government has cancelled the recently concluded Preliminary Test Sessions (PTS) examination conducted for nursing students in the state.
The cancellation comes following protests and allegations of manipulation of students’ results.
Some of the nursing students in the state had protested, alleging that some persons in charge of the PTS examination swapped the students’ results, giving the highest marks to students who offered bribe.
The Abia state government thereafter, ordered for a probe, asking that the affected students submit a petition to the office of the chief of staff to governor Alex Otti for redress.
Addressing the media on Tuesday, on the outcome of this week’s State Executive Council (SEC) meeting presided over by Governor Alex Otti, the Commissioner for Information and Culture in the state, Okey Kanu, revealed that the last PTS examination has been canceled, adding that another examination would be conducted.
According to Kanu, no one has been indicted in the allegations, however, investigation is still ongoing.
“In order to show transparency in all it’s activities, the state government has ordered the cancellation of the result of the last Nursing exams.
“This was based on the allegations of wrong doing levelled against some individuals. As a responsible government , a committee was set up and the preliminary report of the committee is that the exam be cancelled while investigations continue.”
Speaking also, the Principal Secretary and Chief Strategist to the Governor, Mr. Chinenye Mba-Uzoukwu, said;
“The committee met with all the stakeholders; the students who have petitioned , the leadership of the institutions that were involved. This exam was conducted as CBT, Computer Based Test and so the vendors who provided the technology were also interviewed by the committee.
“After reviewing all the information that has come forward from all these parties, it was clear that the examinations could have been conducted better in a manner that would have maintained the integrity that is expected of any examination”.
On his own part, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity, Mr Ferdinand Ekeoma, said;
“What the government has just done is in tandem with the promises made by the Governor on assumption of office. Don’t forget, he declared a state of emergency in the health sector ,the principals of schools of Nursing and all the rest of them were invited through the Commissioner for Health .
“They were spoken to, government made them to understand that it was aware of all the things, the corruption that have been going on there and warned that going forward, such a thing would not be allowed. Don’t forget that the admission proper was not done by this government .
Ordinarily, we would not have admitted one hundred and something for a quota of 75 persons. So what we are doing is the sanitization process”.
