The health ministry will act against a nursing school for operating without approval, following a complaint by 13 students through the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) last month.

Commissioner N Siva Subramaniam told a press conference at the Suhakam headquarters today that Health Ministry director-general Dr Mohd Ismail Merican has agreed on action against the Damai Service Hospital Nursing School (Melawati) in Kuala Lumpur.

The commission was informed of this during a meeting with the ministry last Friday, he said.

"A nursing school must operate with the approval of both the higher education ministry and health ministry, but in this case, the school didn't get the approval of both," Siva said.

"Action will be taken against the nursing school but what kind of action is up to the ministries...(with this), the matter is considered as resolved."

From a rights perspective, he said Suhakam's concern was that patients might be "cheated" if nurses are not sufficiently trained to provide quality healthcare services at the hospital to which the nursing school is attached.

Seventeen students had discovered the status of the school after completing more than two-thirds of their course. Four, however, disagreed with complaining to Suhakam and have since left the school.

Siva said Ismail has promised to look into the qualifications of all 17 with a view to transferring them to other nursing schools.

"The director-general said the health ministry is a caring ministry and is willing to intervene. We hope the students can continue their studies in other schools," added Siva.

Hospital declines comment

The 13 students paid the price for their going public with their complaints, as they have been suspended by the school. About 10 of them were at Suhakam today.

Farah Nur Syuhaida Borhan, 20, of Kuala Lumpur, expressed gratitude to Suhakam for its assistance.

"Now we pray for an early arrangement by the health director-general to place us in other schools as promised," she said.

"Human rights is an important aspect of life. We have learned how to defend our rights and respect the patients' rights in our case."

When contacted, a hospital official declined immediate comment on the ministry's decision.

"You have to write a letter to us because any statement to the media must be authorised by our hospital director," the official said.

The students had initially been frustrated that they had not been able to claim their days off. When taking this to the Nursing Board of Malaysia, they found out that the school was not licensed.

They decided to do something about the situation despite worry that they would be breaching their training contract. They are bonded under a RM30,000 bill with the school.

However, they were more concerned about being told to perform such duties as giving injections, despite lack of adequate training and guidance from senior nurses.