MANILA, Philippines?The Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) is closely monitoring at least 177 nursing schools in the country that have not had even one single graduate passing the nursing licensure exams in the last five years.

CHEd Chairman Emmanuel Angeles gave the warning in a speech to heads of colleges and universities in Metro Manila and nearby regions on Friday afternoon.

During the launch of CHEd's partnership with the Kapit Bisig Para sa Ilog Pasig (KBPIP) Foundation for the cleanup of the Pasig River, Angeles also announced that at least 38 maritime schools were also being monitored for the same reason.

Sought for comment after the event, Angeles declined to elaborate, saying the performance of the nursing and maritime schools would have to be reevaluated before the CHEd could take any action.

Last month, the CHEd announced it would close down six law schools because not one of their graduates passed the bar exams in the last five years.

Last Friday, Angeles also announced that warnings would be issued to schools whose passing rates are above zero but below the national average.

He said: "We are encouraging our schools to phase out irrelevant courses."

He also expressed concern about the standard of higher education in the country, saying that "we are way behind our neighbors."