Nurse Educator Recruitment Scrapped Amid PSC ‘Impractical’ Rule

The entire recruitment exercise for the post of ‘Nurse Educator’ has been cancelled following a bitter controversy over what rejected applicants are calling an “impossible” academic requirement. The Public Service Commission (PSC) launched the recruitment drive in April 2023.

‘Unrealistic’ Equivalence Certificate

Several candidates claim they were unfairly excluded from the interview phase because they failed to produce an academic equivalence certificate for their Degree in Nursing. This document was required to validate their qualification.

Applicants are outraged, stating it was “materially impossible” to obtain this certificate at the time of application in 2023. One candidate, whose application was reportedly rejected for this reason, explained the core issue:

• “In 2023, no public institution in Mauritius was offering a ‘Degree in Nursing’ that allowed for an official comparison with our diploma. Therefore, demanding a non-existent document amounted to imposing an unrealistic condition, which automatically penalised us.”

The lack of a comparable local programme prevented any official equivalence procedure.

Criteria Shift Confirms Claim

The complainants highlight a major change that occurred after the call for applications, which they say validates the initial requirement’s unfeasibility. They note that the certificate is now obtainable because a public institution has since introduced a Degree in Nursing programme.

This institution, identified as the University of Technology (UTM), introduced the nursing degree only a few months ago.

For the excluded candidates, this post-application development confirms that their rejection was based on a requirement that was simply inapplicable when they applied for the post.

Alleged Uneven Application of Rules

Beyond the impossibility of the equivalence, the rejected candidates also allege that the PSC applied the criteria non-uniformly.

They claim that other applicants were called for interviews without having provided the same proof.

“We don’t dispute the need for clear criteria, but we demand they be applied uniformly to all candidates,” one complainant stated.

They argue that this disparity in treatment violates the principle of equal opportunity essential in the public service.

Call for Transparency

The subsequent cancellation of the entire interview process, according to the disadvantaged candidates, “confirms the grey areas surrounding this process.”

Affirming they have lost a significant professional opportunity, the excluded applicants are calling on the PSC to restart the entire process in a spirit of transparency and consistency to preserve public trust in institutions.

Source: Le Mauricien