A court order stopping the national rewrite of nursing bridging course exams this week was granted to the Health and Other Service Personnel Trade Union of SA (Hospersa) on Monday.
Two weeks ago the South African Nursing Council (SANC) cancelled first-and second-year exams written in May that would have allowed successful bridging-course students to register as professional general or psychiatric nurses. The decision was taken after allegations emerged that some students had seen leaked question papers ahead of the exam.
The order instructed the SANC to postpone the bridging course rewrites to July 19 and 21 from June 28 and 30.
The Democratic Nursing Organisation of SA (Denosa) was among groups outraged by the SANC’s decision. Denosa called for students not to comply, as it first needed to complete investigations into the leaks before taking a decision on the matter.
But Hospersa general secretary Noel Desfontaines welcomed the court order to postpone the exams, saying students would now have adequate time to prepare.
"We understand the concerns of the students in rewriting an exam and the frustrations experienced during this debacle," said Desfontaines. "We also understand the council’s concerns on ensuring the attainment of credible examination result and trust that the council will complete its investigation and bring the culprits to book."
Denosa vowed to take legal action against the council for the decision to stop all student exams before investigations into the leaked exam papers had been completed. It described the decision as "irrational and ill-conceived", saying the council produced no evidence to support its allegations.
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