Members of the Minority on the Health Committee in Parliament have called on the government to reverse its policy directive on reserving 30% of admissions into nursing training colleges for the Ministry of Health.
According to them, even though the reasons for these reservations are currently undisclosed, they see the directive as “an attempt by the government to clear a path” that makes room for protocol admissions of “party apparatchiks” and other candidates with deep pockets to get admission to these training colleges.
Addressing the media in Parliament yesterday, Ranking Member of the Health Committee, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, who spoke on behalf of the Minority, said this is “a recipe” for unbridled corruption.
Mr. Akandoh, who is NDC MP for Juaboso, stated that corruption has recently characterised all admissions into government institutions, and mentioned the police service and military recruitments, as well as teacher training colleges as the institutions involved.
“We also call on government to address the self-imposed bottlenecks on admissions into nursing training colleges so they can run at full capacity,” he posited.
“Per official communications from the Ministry of Health to nursing training colleges, colleges are now restricted to admit no more than 50% of their capacities. Underlying this restrictive admission directive is government’s inability to back its manifesto promise with the financial commitment required.
“These restrictions on intake into nursing training colleges smacks of policy incoherence and pure insensitivity,” Mr. Akandoh asserted.
“How can government claim to be improving access to nursing training by giving trainee allowances and on the other hand institute restrictive quotas to reduce same admissions by over 50%?” he quizzed.
For them, although the government’s quota relating to admission of nursing trainees at the various nursing training schools is not new to the Akufo-Addo government, the new set of administrative directives emanating from the Ministry of Health, if left unchecked, would be disastrous going into the future.
“In June this year, the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) alerted the country of the fact that as of June 1, 2022, over 3,000 nurses and midwives have left the country to seek greener pastures abroad.
“Under this high attrition situation, one would ask if it therefore makes sense for government to maintain bottlenecks to nursing training just so it can claim to be fulfilling a pledge, we all know it is not fulfilling,” he argued.
The Minority members also cautioned the Ministry of Health to desist from encroaching into the internally generated funds of the Colleges of Health since such move is tantamount to a breach of the 2022 Budget Appropriations Act.
By Ernest Kofi Adu