Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. THOUSANDS of nurses across the country are spending almost US$2 000 each in a desperate effort to leave the country for better paying jobs, only to be denied the crucial verification letters needed to complete the emigration process, NewsDay has gathered.
Over 6 000 nurses have applied for verification letters at the Nurses Council of Zimbabwe after paying the mandatory US$300 fee.
However, many have not received the documents, leaving them stranded after investing significant amounts of money hoping to secure better opportunities abroad.
This publication gathered that a nurse spends between US$1 430 and US$2 000 for the migration process.
This includes costs for an English proficiency test, with some repeating multiple times forking out US$640, US$180 for UK NMC registration, US$165 for laboratory blood tests, US$65 for tuberculosis screening and about US$100 on training, internet data and travel expenses.
Transcript fees in local currency and repeated trips to Harare further increase the financial burden.
Zimbabwe Nurses Association president Enock Dongo described the situation as unjust and financially crippling.
“So this is one of the costs that one nurse incurred during the process and not to be given the verification letter at the end. She used more than US$1 400 for nothing, all gone,” Dongo told NewsDay.
“Looking at the number of nurses who are in the country trying to get their verification letters, it’s sad. Calculating the number of nurses who did this process, they are so many.
“They are so many and some actually attempted to write English tests four, five, six, seven times and it means the bill can even go up to US$2 000 something per nurse and most of the money is also going to the British government for the English test when people fail and it is not returnable.”
He said the current system not only drained the pockets of healthcare professionals, but also eroded trust in public institutions and contributed to worsening frustration in an already strained health sector.
Recently, Senator Sengezo Tshabangu asked Health and Child Care deputy minister Sleiman Kwidini to clarify why the government was failing to process verification letters despite collecting US$3,6 million from health workers.
For long, the government has been accused of deliberately withholding these letters and effectively blocking nurses from finalising job applications abroad.
This has led to growing outrage within the profession, as many nurses are stuck after using thousands of dollars.
Health workers, including nurses, doctors and other medical professionals, have been leaving the country to work abroad in large numbers.
The reasons for this include low salaries, poor working conditions, lack of resources and political instability.
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