The Management of the National Service Scheme (NSS) has today, Monday, March 4, 2024, deployed 13,516 trained teachers from the country’s accredited Colleges of Education to undertake their one-year mandatory national service in basic and second-cycle schools across the country.
All Service Personnel in this category are therefore required to log onto www.nss.gov.gh on the
Scheme’s website to check their placements and then proceed to the various NSS Regional Secretariats
to complete the registration process.
Registration begins on Friday, March 8, 2024, at all centers.
Management urges all deployed trained teachers to accept their placements and report accordingly.
Thank you.
Signed
AMBROSE ENTSIWAH JNR.
AG. DIRECTOR, CORPORATE AFFAIRS
The Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch) has revealed that the government’s flagship programme, the free senior high school (Free SHS) policy, has benefited over 5.7 million Ghanaian students since its inception in September 2017.
According to the education think tank, the significant increase in enrollment in secondary schools from 813,448 in the 2016/17 academic year to 1.3 million in the 2022/23 academic year can be attributed to the introduction of the Free SHS policy.
Eduwatch reported that during the first six years of the policy, an average of 422,940 students were enrolled annually, compared to an average of 260,490 annual enrolments in the six years preceding the policy.
In terms of government expenditure, the report indicated that between the 2017/23 and 2023/24 academic years, a total of GH¢12.88 billion was allocated to the Free SHS policy, with an average annual allocation of GH¢1.84 billion.
“Budget credibility has been on a continuous decline since 2018/19. Financial Burden Analysis of the free SHS Policy and Implications on Equitable Access academic year – from 120 percent in the 2017/18 academic year to 99 percent in the 2018/19 academic year, 76 percent in 2019/20, and 58 percent in 2020/21. In 2021/22, the lowest rate of 51 percent of approved funds was spent,” an excerpt of the report added.
Eduwatch recommended to the Ministry of Education (MoE) that in the short term, the focus of the free SHS policy should be directed towards addressing the needs of students from the most economically disadvantaged households.
They proposed leveraging data from the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme as a starting point for this initiative.
Unions in the education sector are asking President Akufo-Addo to indicate other sources of funding for the free SHS programme in the State of the Nation address he is scheduled to present to Parliament on February 27.
Speaking ahead of the State of the Nation address, the leadership of the unions- GNAT, NAGRAT and Coalition of Concerned Teachers Association expressed concern that inadequate funding has resulted in infrastructure challenges and the non-payment of capitation grant.
The government has expended over seven billion cedis on the free SHS programme since 2017 to date. But the allocated amount has failed to address challenges affecting the education sector.
Currently, issues about the capitation grant have been in arrears for more than three terms. Non-payment of transfer grants and subscriptions for the schools have yet to be released. Some 20 percent of the allowance for teachers in deprived areas has not been paid.
President Akufo-Addo with Dr.Bawumia during the launching of Free SHS Policy
Ahead of the presentation of the State of the Nation Address on February 27, the unions are therefore calling for other sources of funding for the policy.
The unions also called for stakeholder consultations on the policy.
Meanwhile, organised labour says it has no hope in the State of the Nation address to be presented by President Akufo-Addo.
Leadership of labour cited economic challenges coupled with high taxes and prices of goods which it says have “chiseled out” the total earnings of workers.
They spoke exclusively with 3news labour correspondent in Accra during which they recounted the current economic conditions affecting workers.
They cited the depreciation of the cedi and weak macro-economic fundamentals, which have affected salaries.
Although the government, after negotiations with labour, adjusted salaries by 23%, labour is of the view that the increase in taxes has reduced the value of the meagre earnings of workers.
President Akufo-Addo is expected to present his last but one State of the Nation address on Tuesday, February 27.
But the leadership of organised labour says the address will not resolve the economic challenges being faced by workers.
A call has been made to all stakeholders in the tertiary education space to make the West African sub-region the most attractive destination for the delivery of tertiary education.
To attain this, there is a need for a concerted effort from all stakeholders to collaborate through regional integration and most importantly through collaborative technology within its collaborative architect to advance this quality initiative.
The Director-General of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), Prof. Ahmed Jinapor Abdulaih, who made the call, lauded the leadership of the Association of West African Universities (AWAU) for its role in supporting the development of tertiary education in the sub-region.
He was speaking at the 9th AWAU Confab 2024 and the 11th annual general meeting of the Association.
The three-day conference had the theme: “Promoting quality tertiary education in West Africa through collaboration, regional integration and technology”, and it brought together all stakeholders in the tertiary education space in the West African sub-region.
Some of the issues discussed were regional integration and educational curriculum, technology and educational transformation, partnerships, collaboration and inter-university linkages, regional integration and quality tertiary education, globalisation and quality tertiary education, among others.
Citing an example for the sub-region, Prof. Jinapor recounted how Ghana had enjoyed some relative peace and stability in the sub-region over the past decades, registered some enviable democratic records, exhibited adequate energy supply and also proven to be the preferred destination for foreign settlement.
“Our vision and aspiration being the current leadership of GTEC is to position tertiary education delivery in Ghana as the game changer in the foreign resource mobilisation of the Ghanaian economy within the shortest possible time,” he said.
The GTEC Director General called on all stakeholders within the private tertiary education delivery sector who require charter to take the exercise seriously since non-compliant institutions would be forced to close upon expiration of the window of application as captured in the law.
Prof. Ishaq Oleyede, the Registrar of the Joint Admission Board in Nigeria, in an address read for him, indicated that the West African sub-region happens to be among regions where education started dating back several decades.
He stated that “universities in the sub-region are among the best in the world due to the quality of faculty and programmes they run.”
Prof. Oleyede added his voice to the call for collaboration among tertiary institutions in the sub-region towards research, conferences and other policies which could help promote the development of their programmes for the development of their national economies.
The Minister for Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, in an address read for him, also urged all local and foreign stakeholders to continue to partner with governments to get the best support in the areas of policy and other ways they could develop education in their respective countries.
He urged the youth to strive to get the best education by choosing courses which could potentially develop their countries and the rest of the world.
The Education Minister enumerated some of the development measures being put in place to fast-track the nation’s transformation through education in the form of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programmes.
He was upbeat that the various interventions being churned out in the nation’s educational sector would leapfrog the nation’s development.
Background
By the 11 Act of GTEC 1023, all private tertiary institutions must be chartered, or they must demonstrate evidence of processes towards same by August 31st 2024 before they stay in business.
Currently, GTEC has received 77 applications in that regard, with 43 ready to be chartered and 21 to be chartered in two years’ time. Some, unfortunately, are in distress conditions and are supposed to be shut down.
The attention of the Management of the National Service Scheme (NSS) has been drawn to a video in circulation on social media showing some national service personnel in queues in some of our district offices and going through the biometric evaluation process.
Subsequently, some service personnel and sections of the public have asked questions and demanded explanations for the exercise.
In a statement signed by Ambrose Entsiwah Jnr,Ag. Director, Corporate Affairs, he indicated, even though they had pre-informed service personnel about the process, they deem it necessary to offer further explanations considering the huge concerns and interests the video in circulation has generated.
Hon.Osei Assibey Antwi,Executive Director,NSS
“In December last year, we announced the launch of our phase II biometric evaluation process for our district offices.
This is to ensure that we achieve optimal efficiency with our final payroll and eliminate all forms of leakages at the entry point to our monthly payroll, as done with our regional registration
process last year which continues to save the Government critical funds on an annual basis.
We are aware of early delays at our district offices with the initial rollout. Still, we wish to assure all stakeholders that this is part of the early finetuning process essential for the overall improvement of our system.
While our district officers have undergone extensive training, we kindly ask for patience as they adapt to this new process, which will ultimately lead to a more seamless experience for all.
To address the current challenges, we have deployed extra support to our district offices to ensure a
smoother process over the coming days, to speed up the process, and to complete it in good time to
enable payment of the outstanding allowances.
While appreciating the understanding and co-operation of our service personnel during this transitional period, we wish to assure all, of our unwavering commitment to providing services that deliver the highest level of efficiency to all our stakeholders in the country.”he maintained.Source:Broadcastergh.com
The Management of the National Service Scheme has directed all National Service Personnel to visit their portals and validate the following information which is vital for the quick processing of personnel data for payment of their monthly allowances:
1. Name
2. Telephone number
3. E-zwich number
4. Place of posting
5. Region
All National Service Personnel are to validate this information before Friday, 16th February, 2024.
— End —
Thank you.
Signed
AMBROSE ENTSIWAH JNR.
AG. DIRECTOR, CORPORATE AFFAIRS
The National Service Scheme (NSS) has today, Monday, 12th February, 2024 released the first batch of
PIN CODES for thirteen thousand, three hundred and fifty-three (13,353) eligible Ghanaian Trained Teachers to enable them to enroll to be deployed to offer their one-year mandatory national service for the 2024 service year.
Hon.Osei Assibey Antwi,NSS Boss
All eligible trained teachers are requested to log onto the Scheme’s website at www.nss.gov.gh to follow the online enrollment procedure.
Please note that a registration fee of GH¢40.00 should be paid at any branch of the ADB Bank to obtain access to the main enrolment platform to complete the enrolment process.
Alternatively, payment of GH¢41.00 could be made via MTN MoMo.
Enrollment starts on Wednesday, 14
th February, 2024, and ends on Wednesday, 28th February,2024.
All eligible trained teachers are to ensure that they complete their online enrolment process themselves within the stipulated period.
— End —
Thank you.
Signed
AMBROSE ENTSIWAH JNR.
AG. DIRECTOR, CORPORATE AFFAIRS
The Education Minister, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, has launched the Communities of Excellence Programme (CEP) which aims at fostering collaboration between all stakeholders to improve the quality of education in the country.
The initiative is to build a strong network of highly literate communities across the country where no child is left behind and every citizen is empowered to make a meaningful contribution to the socio-economic transformation of the country.
Launching the programme at Mamfe in the Akuapem South District last Friday, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, the Minister for Education called on opinion leaders, chiefs, political leaders, teachers and other participants to take a keen interest in the education of their children.
He explained that under the CEP, chiefs would play a critical role in ensuring improvement in learning outcomes by providing accommodations and other support to teachers and education providers.
The Education Minister indicated that as part of the programme, the final results of children would be submitted to the chiefs, assemblymen, teachers, Members of Parliament and other stakeholders to help scrutinize and assess the student’s performance.
He spoke of the effort the Ministry made to put in place prudent policies that stood the chance of turning around the country’s development through education.
The CEP programme seeks to ensure that 90 per cent of basic four pupils aged ten attain foundational competencies in literacy, numeracy and socio-emotional development.
It will also ensure that at least 90 per cent of Junior High Schools (JHS) students pass and transition into Senior High School (SHS) while 90 per cent of SHS students pass and transition into tertiary.
According to Nana Baffour Awuah, the Director of Pre-tertiary at the Ministry of Education, the programme held the positive transformation for 700 schools, 232 communities and 40 Districts throughout the country.
He urged the communities to foster a culture of cooperation, innovation and continuous improvement to help sustain the programme.
The Kyidomhene of the Akuapem Traditional Area and chief of Mamfe, Nana Ansah Sasraku III, appealed to his colleague’s chiefs across the country to involve themselves in the implementation of the CEP in other to bring about the change desired.
He noted that education must be of Paramount interest to every traditional area with chiefs taking a keen interest in it.
Nana Ansah Sasraku said education remained the key enabler in dealing with the levels of poverty in the country and the interest of various stakeholders would help improve the quality of education Delivery in the country.
He also appealed for attention to be paid to the boy-child education since much had been attained with the girl child.
The chief said this was necessary because the two genders must be pulled alongside by side, or else the gains made on one side would way down the other.
He also pleaded for the government to find ways to provide free sanitary pads for girls in schools since their menstrual cycle often acted as a hindrance to education.
Background
Ghana has prioritized investment in education and skill training of its youth to develop its human capital and harness its demographic dividend. For a country with a population of 30.8 million people, nearly 40 per cent of whom are under 15 years old, an investment in education represents a viable opportunity to equip the younger generation with the requisite knowledge, skills, and values to become functional and productive citizens.
MoE in Ghana has introduced a series of ambitious national education reforms to address the serious issue of poor basic learning outcomes’ The reforms aim to deliver equitable access to quality education, strengthen education sector accountability and improve the overall educational attainment for young people in Ghana.
