Nakhon Ratchasima College's Faculty of Nursing would be immediately shut down if it were found to be operating without approval for commercial gain, Education Minister Chinnavorn Boonyakiat said yesterday.
The panel led by Sumet Yaemnoon, secretary-general of the Higher Education Commission, should complete its investigation into the nursing programme's credibility and potential in 15 days, he said.
Officials have already been instructed to assist the students by finding accredited nursing schools for them to transfer to and allowing the college's graduates to take the examinations for nursing licences.
More than 40 nursing students recently filed fraud charges with police against college president Saran Intakul for allegedly continuing to enrol students until last year even though the curriculum had not been endorsed by the Thailand Nursing Council since 2008.
A source said that according to the council's information as of January 8, four other colleges had nursing programmes approved by the council only for the first year, not the following years, just like Nakhon Ratchasima College, but they all stopped admitting students.
Nakhon Ratchasima College reportedly accepted 64 students in the 2008 academic year.
