Thai govt to train young nurses to boost medical care in restive south.
The Thai government will hand out more than Bt140 million in nursing scholarships to address a shortage of medical care in the deep south where more than 2,000 people have been killed since the latest round of insurgency flared up in January 2004.
The scholarships will be given to 3,000 highschool students living in the Muslimmajority provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, said Health Minister Mongkol Na Songkla. Recipients will be required to work in the three southern provinces for eight years after finishing their studies, he said. The plan is part of the government's effort to improve medical care and educational opportunities to the residents in the deep South, Mongkol told reporters after the yesterday's Cabinet meeting. The first batch of scholarship is expected to be awarded ahead of the next school term that starts in May. Mongkol said there were about 9,000 medical workers in the restive region, and about half of them had requested to transfer out of the area. The Nation
|
