Starter Kit. Idea 350 of 500. Cluster 17
Nurse training to the international standard with a bond to work 2 years in Sri Lankan hospitals first
The mechanism, from the book
Sri Lankans abroad have parents at home whom they cannot look after from Melbourne. They will pay, and the money stays.
The first step
Put one question to the matron or nursing officer at a private hospital: how many nurses left for jobs abroad last year, and would the hospital pay part of a student's fees in return for 2 years of work. Take a second question to the parents of 10 school leavers: would they pay the rest for a course that ends in an international qualification. A hospital's written yes is the proof the school needs.
- Who pays first
- A private hospital that keeps losing trained nurses abroad and would co-fund students in exchange for a guaranteed 2 years of service.
- What leaves today
- Nurses trained at the island's cost leave the moment they qualify; the bond keeps 2 years of their skill at home and pays for the training.
Ask first
- Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission. Ask how a nursing course to an international standard is accredited here.
- Sri Lanka Medical Council. Ask whether nurses trained this way must register before working in hospitals here.
Check before you spend
That the bond is a fair, signed contract with a hospital, that the course truly meets the foreign standard, and what happens if a student leaves early.
Find out these three numbers
- What share of fees would a hospital pay for two years of work?
- How many nurses did the hospital lose to jobs abroad last year?
- What would parents pay for the rest of the fees?
A comparison from the book
Singapore. Chapter Eight
"The state paid for its best students' degrees, at home or abroad, and tied the money to 8 years of public service"
Pay part of the training in return for years of work at home, and write the price down.
The test
Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?
From the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? by Dr Maheshika Halbeisen. The idea and the mechanism are the book's; this kit was written for the site.