Former President John Dramani Mahama, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer, has stated that the future NDC-led administration intends to remove the quota system for enrolling student nurses in the country’s Nursing Training Colleges.
Rather, the government aims to invest in the building of more health facilities, such as CHPS Compounds, new Polyclinics, Health Centres, and Hospitals. This deliberate initiative is intended to provide extra career options for nurses when they complete their training.
Former President Mahama made the news at a speech to student nurses at the Nursing and Midwifery Training College in Esiama, Ellembelle District, Western Region. This interaction was part of a two-day Building Ghana Tour to solicit feedback from stakeholders for inclusion in the NDC’s new manifesto.
The students who received President Mahama, hoisted placards such as, “Mahama, You Deserve Our Votes In 2024”, “The Youth of Ghana Support The-24-Hour Economy”, “We Are Sorry for Choosing Allowances over Hospitals”, “Graduate Nurses Are Crying”, “Our Entire Educational System Is In Comatose” and “JM, We Love You”.
Former President John Dramani Mahama stated that the previous NDC government’s decision to replace training allowances with the Students Loan Scheme was taken to address health-care concerns. He stated that second-year student nurses had yet to get their allowances and urged President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Dr. Mahmoud Bawumia to do so as soon as possible.
Mahama voiced worry about the growing brain drain in the health industry as a result of unemployment and promised to create more jobs to address the problem.
During his visit to the Nursing and Midwifery Training College in Esiama, he asked the MP for Ellembelle to supply the college with a new water pump and vowed to solve the institution’s difficulties.
Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, MP for Ellembelle, promised to meet with student nurses to resolve their issues.
Mrs. Cecilia Boame, the college’s principal, underlined the need for a new 60-seater vehicle to take students to clinical facilities, noting the insufficiency of the present bus, which was provided by the late President John Evans Atta Mills.
Ms. Humaizer Abubakar, the college’s SRC President, praised former President Mahama for his previous efforts in the health sector and voiced hope about his commitment to driving Ghana’s growth if re-elected.