MANILA, Philippines—The closure of 177 nursing schools that have failed to pass a single graduate in the nursing licensure exams will address the glut of some half a million board passers in the country, recruitment consultant Emmanuel Geslani said in a statement Monday.

Geslani was reacting to reports that Chairman Emmanuel Angeles of the Commission on Higher Education has warned 177 nursing schools for their miserable performance both in teaching standards and facilities needed for on-the-job training. Angeles also ordered the evaluation of schools that have passing rates below the national average.

The recruitment consultant said there are over 1,000 nursing schools throughout the country and they need to be rationalized. He said these schools contribute to the glut of nurses who are either jobless or work in call centers, sales, or hotel or the service industry.

Geslani said more nurses are expected to join the unemployed because of the 60,000 who pass the nursing board every year, the local labor market could only accommodate 5,000 new nurses and the foreign market, particularly the Middle East, could only absorb 15,000 new nurses.

Although the nurses situation in the United States is considered critical at 500,000 shortage by 2020, there is usually a long wait for immigrant-based petitions for nurses by hospitals.

To address the oversupply of Filipino nurses, Lito Soriano, of the e-LBS Recruitment, suggests that government (national or local) build more 200-bed hospitals to be able to give nurses the proper training required by foreign countries.

“The two-year training gained by the nurses will qualify them to work abroad whether in the Middle East or in the Western countries like the US, United Kingdom, Canada, or even Singapore,” Soriano said.