Nursing Capital

I do play with Tarot cards for my friends and family. I don't consider myself a fortune teller or a gifted seer. I read the tarot for fun and "excitement". However, considering the statement of POEA or the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency, encouraging elementary students to take up Nursing in college, the Philippines will BE the Nursing Capital of the World. There is no need for me to use the Tarot for further divination. With respect to the current nursing students and pool of nursing graduates, I don't intend to undermine their profession and the knowledge that they contribute to the field of Medicine and Healthcare. I just don't see the need for POEA encouraging students to take up Nursing course in college. And more surprising is that they even targeted ELEMENTARY students in their statement. They are too young to focus on their future professions. I believe that during this period, elementary students, aside from their tasks to master basic literacy and skills such as Reading, Writing, Math, Science and Social Interaction, must also be allowed to freely observe, discover and explore the community - to assess their own interests and skills vis-a-vis the available community roles that they can assume in the future.(not just to be fathers and mothers). Adults, teachers and parents and NOT the POEA are given that responsibility to guide them and help them along the process.

I am trying to analyze what gave the POEA the idea of giving the simple but very misleading statement. There could be a lot of combination and permutation of ideas but I could only think of one general idea that the government is STILL banking and WILL STILL bank on the remittances of overseas Filipino workers in ten (10) to twenty (20) years for the growth of our country's economy. And this assumes that leaders of POEA have no "links" on any Nursing Testing Centers and Nursing Colleges. It can also be inferred that there is a demand, if not consistent, an increasing demand for Nurses within and definitely OUTSIDE the country. POEA fills up the demand of foreign countries for human capital. It is designed to regulate the exit of Filipinos from the country. And I think, it is the agency's job to protect the country from over exportation of Filipinos because just like other countries, the Philippines have demands for human capital as well. If they intend to continuously increase the export of human capital, they also decrease the supply of human capital in the country as well. This is just within the context of all employment demand. If we focus on their aim to encourage ELEMENTARY students to take up Nursing in college, they are suggesting that we increase our supply of Nurses to meet the future demands of other countries - and I don't think it is a red-alert situation for the country's need and demand for nurses.

There are other community roles/professions that the country needs at present and in the future. We need teachers, doctors, managers and entrepreneurs. It would have been a better statement if they encouraged Elementary students to just focus on their education and try their best to learn the basics that is a requirement to any local and foreign jobs. This is best done by DECS or CHED and not POEA. The professions that I have narrated have important roles in building and developing our economy. At present, elementary students are asked to memorize, understand and recognize the different roles of community helpers, the term used in textbooks and by teachers themselves. Teachers even ask these students to bring "Community Helpers" or "Pamayanan" charts to class. If the government, through POEA and without the intervention of DECS and CHED continuously promote Nursing in the early stages of childhood, it will only increase the possibility of Philippines being the Nursing capital of the World. I can't imagine and I can't find the necessity for every child to be a nurse when they get older. I understand that these children will have their own minds and their own right to choose their paths but to encourage them and instill in their minds to take up nursing early is brainwashing in its sense. Children of this stage have great memory and as described by some, their brains are like sponges that will keep on absorbing consciously and subconsciously. It is by this concept that children are tasked to learn from education. Their innocence and curiosity must not be exploited. But for us to use this concept to promote a particular job, is detrimental or simply inappropriate. I also make use of this concept, in good faith though. When I speak with our customers who are students, I tell them, "Huwag kang mag-Nursing sa college ah." I hope that helps...it's the lesser evil.