A senior Political Science Lecturer at the University of Ghana, Dr. Kwame Asah Asante has criticized the proposal by the Vice President and flagbearer of the ruling New Patriotic Party, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia to make the National Service Scheme not mandatory for university graduates in the country.
Dr. Asante, the renowned academic and researcher in a media interview on Thursday, February 8 2024, expressed his disagreement with the Vice President’s proposal and argued strongly that the National Service Scheme serves vital role in supporting the Ghanaian government in number of instances.
Dr Asah Asante further asserted that the proposal of the Vice President to make the scheme not compulsory for university graduates is mainly due to the government’s failure to pay service personnel a realistic amount of stipend on time.
According to him, the failure of government to pay the National Service Personnel a realistic amount of stipends on time should not be a reason to discard the program but instead, the government must adopt better measures to improve the system to ensure timely payment and redirecting graduates to different areas for service.
Speaking passionately on the matter, Dr. Asante highlighted the significant impact of the National Service Scheme in certain rural areas, where its presence is a source of support for government in a number of public service provision.
He argued that rather than abolishing the scheme, efforts should be focused on enhancing its efficiency and ensuring that allowances are paid promptly.
“The National Service plays a key role, so why are you taking it away? I thought that we could have really improved it and made sure that they receive their allowances on time and then you direct them to another area”
Dr kwame Asah Asante
Dr Bawumia Urged To Rescind Proposal To Make The The National Service Scheme Optional
Furthermore, the senior Political Science Lecturer at the University of Ghana strongly posited that eliminating the National Service Scheme would result in a substantial deficit in the country’s way of life.
Dr Asah Asante therefore called on the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia to reconsider the proposal and come up with alternative measures that would address the challenges facing the program.
Meanwhile, the Member of Parliament for Builsa South and Ranking Member of Parliament Committee on Education, Dr Clememt Abass Apaak has indicated that the proposal by Dr Bawumia to replace the mandatory National Service Scheme with an optional one would do the country more harm than good.
Dr Apaak, explaining his position, passionately argued that the National Service Scheme goes a long way to instill in young graduates a deep sense of patriotism and other important values required for nation building, and hence any decision to reform such a scheme could be harmful to the country.
“We all know the value of doing National Service, and we know that the National Service certificate plays a very important role, especially for those of us who will want to go into public service.
“Time without number, you may have heard persons who have been nominated for ministerial positions being asked by the Appointments Committee where they did their National Service and whether they have certificates and so by saying that we are going to make it optional, you are totally destroying what we know and replacing it with a system that will only exempt the sons and daughters of the political elite”
Dr Clement Abass Apaak
The opposition National Democratic Congress Member of Parliament strongly asserted that the proposal by the New Patriotic Party flagbearer if implemented could heighten the cases of bribery and corruption in the Ghanaian public service.
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