UAE: Indians lose jobs after MoE demands new educational requirement

A new educational requirement in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has reportedly led to the loss of jobs of hundreds of Indian nurses, while many more have been demoted. Bachelor’s degree in nursing has been made a minimum educational qualification for the Indian nurses in the UAE. According to a Dubai-based English daily, more than 200 nurses have already lost their jobs owing to such changes and many fear the same.

Issue of equivalency certificates

Nurses with diploma certificates now have to go through a Post Basic BSc Nursing Programme from universities in the UAE. The universities should be accredited by the Ministry of Education and nurses should go through it by the year 2020. Another reason that is making the nurses worried is the need for equivalency certificates against their diploma. Their requests for equivalency certificates in lieu of their diploma are constantly getting rejected for not having certificates from the state for Kerala.

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The nursing council of Kerala is the only body that has been recognised by the UAE’s Ministry of Education (MoE). Diploma holders from other states of India are reportedly not getting equivalency certificates by the Ministry, even after they get required attestations through the Indian consulate in Dubai. Though most of the nurses in UAE hail from Kerala, many of those nurses completed their diploma from other States, reported the English daily. The nurses have demanded the authorities to include Indian nursing council in the approved list of the Ministry.

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Travel Advisory

The Indian consulate in Dubai, on October 14, issued a travel advisory for all Indians travelling to UAE to get the adequate insurance cover that should cover the medical expenses.

"The consulate keeps receiving various requests from Indians visiting UAE seeking assistance to meet their unforeseen medical expenditure or repatriation expenses due to a medical condition or accident. In all such cases, the Consulate tries to help distressed Indians within the means provided by Government of India. Many such expenditures, however, do not fall under our scope," said Consulate General of India in Dubai. "It is therefore advised that all Indian nationals who are travelling to UAE for visit or tourism purpose should take adequate insurance cover including for medical purposes the duration of their visit/stay in UAE," it added.

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