The government has reached an understanding with the United Kingdom-based national health systems and health education organisations to provide training and job opportunities to students of nursing colleges in the State.
A team from England, led by Britain’s Deputy High Commissioner to Andhra Pradesh, Andrew Fleming, and officials of different wings on Wednesday signed an MoU on the issue.
Managing Director and CEO of the A.P. State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) Arja Sreekanth, Chairman Madhusudan Reddy, Special Chief Secretary, Skill Development Centre (Entrepreneurship and Innovation) J.S.V. Prasad, Principal Secretary (Labour, Employment, Training and Factories) B. Udayalakshmi, and Director of Medical Education K. Venkatesh were present.
The Skill Development Corporation will set up a language lab to train nursing students from the second year onwards under the guidance of the Health Education wing of England. The Overseas Manpower Company of Andhara Pradesh (OMCAP) will take care of the visa process for the candidates going abroad. The APSSDC will also impart training to candidates to help them qualify in the mandatory International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and the Occupational English Test (OET). The eligible candidates will be interviewed by representatives of the National Health System Hospital, England.
Later, addressing the media, Mr. Fleming said many Indians were interested in studying and settling abroad, and Andhra Pradesh and Kerala had people with good skills in nursing department. He said since the Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy was keen on developing the healthcare sector, the U.K. was happy to collaborate with the State in this area.
Job opportunities
“The U.K. offers employment opportunities in nursing. The Skill Development Corporation is imparting training in international certification courses, which will be beneficial to the students in finding suitable jobs abroad,” said Mr. Madhusudan Reddy.
Mr. Sreekanth said, as part of the agreement, training would start for the batch of first 100 recruits soon.
OMCAP General Manager K. Swamy and APSSDC Executive Director Hanuma Nayak were present.