NSS deploys 70,000 service personnel

The National Service Scheme (NSS) on Wednesday deployed over 70,000 national service persons for the 2013/2014 service year.

The regional distribution are Greater Accra 18,424, Ashanti 10, 122, Eastern 6,072, Western 5,933, Central 5,148, Volta 4,652, Brong Ahafo 6,596, Northern 5,811, Upper East 3,714 and Upper West 3,638.

Acting Executive Director of the NSS, Alhaji Alhassan Imoro announced in Accra at a press conference to formally launch the 2013/2014 national service year.

He said in the fulfillment of the Scheme’s mandate, young graduates from the various tertiary institutions were deployed to various parts of the country in various sectors of the economy to do a year’s national service.

He noted that was done in fulfillment of the core objective aimed at ensuring the promotion of national unity and helping provide essential human support services and amenities particularly in towns and villages of our rural communities.

Alhaji Imoro said the educational sector over the years had been the major beneficiary of the national service personnel deployment, adding that the Scheme was committed to the continuous support for it in order to improve the quality of teaching and learning at all levels of education for quality education delivery outcomes.

He said in this direction, the Scheme for the 2013/2014 service year, had deployed a total of 36,426 service personnel to the educational sector, in which 3,157 personnel would go to tertiary institutions to support the training institutions in faculty work, research and administration.

According to him, 200 service personnel have been deployed to support the Ghana Education Inspectorate Board to enhance their work at tracking performance at the basic education level.

Alhaji Imoro said the health sector was another key area where service personnel had made immense contribution over the years and their support was still critical adding that 3,100 personnel had also been deployed to support health delivery, especially in hospitals, clinics, immunization centers and national health insurance scheme.

This, he stated constituted about 7.5 per cent of the total posting and the caliber of personnel includes pharmacists, doctor of optometry, nurses, and laboratory and dispensary technicians, including personnel with accounting, psychology and social work backgrounds.

The Acting NSS Director added that the private sector had attracted 10,427 service personnel representing 13.2 per cent of total service deployment as against 5,678 representing 14.6 per cent of total postings.

According to him, other sectors of the economy in which service personnel had been posted were agriculture, Ministries, Departments and Agencies, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies.

He noted that service persons were not being posted to manage traffic, but that could only be done upon request from the motor traffic regulatory authorities.

Alhaji Imoro urged players in the oil and gas sector to open their doors for posting of national service personnel and also appealed to prospective service persons to accept posting to any part of the country.

Prospective service personnel can check their posting from Thursday September 5, 2013.

Registration for their service begins on September 9.