Regulation barring pregnant students from sitting exams scrapped

The Health Ministry has suspended a regulation barring pregnant students of Nursing Training colleges from taking examinations.

The decision followed a meeting between the heads of the various health training institutions, and Nursing and Midwifery Council to review the code of ethics for health training institutions.

Deputy Health Minister Tina Mensah described the code as outdated, Joy News' Matilda Wemegah reported.

On May 11, 2017, there was public outcry following a Principal's decision to block pregnant woman, Cecilia Awuni, from sitting her exams.

The married woman who was a final year student of the Gushiegu Midwifery School was sacked from an examination hall midway through her papers.

The principal of the School asked her to go home and return next year to complete her studies because of her four-month-old pregnancy.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council defended the Principal's decision explaining that it was in the student's best interest. This, the council's PRO said, was because a pregnant woman may lack the capacity to effectively participate in all the activities.

But within 24 hours, the Council did a u-turn acknowledging the action was illegal. Cecilia Awuni was called back to write her papers. The college also made arrangements to allow her to sit the papers she had been prevented from writting.

Cecilia's story is part of several reported incidents in nursing training colleges. There are harrowing stories of pregnant women forcefully delivering pre-maturely in order to sit an exam.

That regulation will no longer apply.
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Story by Ghana|myjoyonline.com