Although the Guyana Health Care Education Institute “failed abysmally” to meet the standards for registration, the National Accreditation Council’s failure to follow the proper procedure resulted in the overturning of the decision not to renew the registration.
This disclosure was made by the Education Ministry yesterday in an exchange with attorney Nigel Hughes about its involvement with the institution, which has been accused by students of scamming them.
In the face of protests by students, the Ministry on Wednesday had disclosed that the National Accreditation Council had denied registration of the Guyana Health Care Education Institute, which is also known as the School of Nursing and the American Health Institute, but principal Nanda Kissoon challenged the decision with the help of Hughes. Saying that it had sounded repeated warnings about Kissoon and her operations, the Ministry said it was perplexed why students protested outside of its offices and urged “opposition politicians” to speak to “their fellow opposition politician Mr Nigel Hughes to ensure the students get their money back.”
In response, Hughes yesterday revealed that during the court proceedings filed by Kissoon to challenge the National Accreditation Council’s decision, consented to the order made by acting Chief Justice Ian Chang quashing the decision and admitted that it acted in error when it refused to renew the registration of the institute.
A copy of the order states that the Accreditation Council’s decision was made on the basis of an unsigned and denied Evaluators report, “which was an abuse of power, ultra vires, null and void and based on a false premise or non-existent report.”
The Ministry had also stated that Kissoon and Hughes went as far as to file contempt of court proceedings against the Accreditation Council and persons, threatening to incarcerate them, for failure to obey the court’s ruling.
“In their dramatic references to their willingness to defend themselves against threats of incarceration and imprisonment for contempt, the Ministry of Education no doubt failed to appreciate that the in normal jurisdictions where the rule of law exists and prevails, if you consent to an order you are obligated to obey it. Not refuse to do so when embarrassed,” Hughes stated.
Hughes’ statement prompted a reaction by the Ministry, which admitted that it is true that the Council consented to the order sought by Kissoon and the Guyana Health Care Education Institute but added that it did not mean the business was registered.
“The Ministry is advised that consenting to the order that was sought by Nanda Kissoon and Guyana Health Care Education Institute only means that the decision by the National Accreditation Council not to register the Guyana Health Care Education Institute is quashed,” it said.
“It does not mean that all of sudden and automatically, simply because Nigel Hughes and his controversial client wishes it were so, that Guyana Health Care Education Institute has now met the required standards to which our young people are entitled and which are internationally set and demanded by the Council,” it added.
It explained that once the order by the Council was quashed, status of the Guyana Health Care Education Institute would revert to what it was before the Council made the decision not to register it. “At the time the Council denied registration the Guyana Health Care Education Institute was not registered. Therefore the Guyana Health Care Education Institute is still not registered,” the Ministry noted.
According to the Ministry, the crux of the matter is that poor Guyanese students are alleging that they are being robbed by the Guyana Health Care Education Institute. “Nigel Hughes has admitted that he advises that body and its owners. He has not apologized to the students or to the nation. He is in fact seeking to jail people who are trying to prevent those students from falling prey to what the students have alleged is a fraud. These are the facts. Nothing he has said in his press release says otherwise,” it said.
“Contrary to the role of other players in this sad story, the National Accreditation Council and the Ministry of Education are inspired by a duty to ensure that those who seek to offer educational training to our people are duly qualified and competent to do so. From this responsibility, we shall not shirk!” it added.
Students of the school held a protest outside its Robb Street location on Tuesday after Kissoon failed to show up for an exam they were scheduled to write. They later listed several concerns they had with the institute, including different costs being attached to the same course.
In 2009, Kissoon was accused of defrauding students of the Inter-American Nursing School, described by the then health minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy as a bogus nursing school.
