Mission Niramaya: UP government to loop in private schools to promote nursing

In a bid to boost the nursing workforce in Uttar Pradesh, the state government is charting plans to loop in private schools under its Mission Niramaya to motivate students to pick up nursing as a career. If successful, the plan can be replicated by other states, the UP government said. 

Launched in October 2022, Mission Niramaya aims to promote nursing and paramedical assistance as attractive career options for students, with the goal of establishing Uttar Pradesh as a hub for global healthcare professionals.  

“Schools play a crucial role in the success of this mission by encouraging their students to consider nursing and paramedics as viable career paths and providing them with the necessary guidance. To achieve this, we have devised a comprehensive plan and formed partnerships with private, public, and Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV) schools across the state,” Alok Kumar, Principal Secretary of the Medical Education Department of Uttar Pradesh told BT. 

In November 2022, 300 principals from government and government-aided schools underwent training as ‘master trainers’ to inspire students in Classes 11 and 12 to pursue nursing and paramedics. A similar initiative was conducted in January for KV schools, which oversee over 100 schools in Uttar Pradesh. More than 386,000 school students have been counselled through over 2,200 sessions in 2,000 schools.  

“Further expanding its reach, Mission Niramaya has now extended its collaboration to include private schools. This development is expected to reach even more students, equipping them with the essential information and guidance needed to pursue careers in nursing and paramedics,” said Kumar. 

“The collective efforts of the government, private schools, and public schools aim to raise awareness and increase the number of skilled healthcare professionals in the state, which will have a positive impact on the overall healthcare sector in India,” he said. 

As part of its partnership with schools, Mission Niramaya will organise seminars, workshops, and guest speaker sessions. These events, the government said, will provide students with insights from professionals in the healthcare industry, allowing them to gain a better understanding of nursing and paramedics as career paths.  

As of 2020, the state had a meagre ratio of 0.61 nurses per 1,000 population, compared with 4.79 in Tamil Nadu and 8.96 in Kerala.  Mission Niramaya was launched to tackle the problem of quality of nursing education. The mission aims to enhance the regulation and quality of nursing education in the state. Since 96 per cent of nursing seats in the state are in private colleges, the government’s task was to implement reforms by revamping the regulatory mechanism at the State Medical Faculty (SMF) and the State Nursing Council, which governs nursing education. 

Under the mission between 2017 and 2023, the Uttar Pradesh government’s investment on medical education infrastructure resulted in a doubling of government medical colleges, quadrupling of graduate nursing colleges. “The move aims to address the gap in nursing workforce. But we realized that the quality of the nursing workforce posed an even greater bottleneck,” Kumar said. 

“By promoting nursing and paramedics as preferred career options, the mission aims to create a pool of skilled healthcare professionals, positioning Uttar Pradesh as a hub for global healthcare talent,” he said.