The next NDC-led government will abolish the quota system of enrolling student nurses into Nursing Training Colleges in the country, flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress, former President John Dramani Mahama has hinted.
The government will therefore invest in building more health facilities such as CHPS Compounds, new Polyclinics, Health Centres and Hospitals to provide more jobs for the nurses upon completion of their courses.
Former President Mahama said this when he addressed student nurses of the Tertiary Education Institutions Network (TEIN) branch at the Nursing and Midwifery Training College at Esiama in the Ellembelle District of the Western Region.
The visit formed part of a-two-day Building Ghana Tour to elicit views of stakeholders to be incorporated into a new manifesto of the NDC.
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”.
He said it was against this backdrop that the erstwhile NDC government took the decision to replace the training allowance with the Students Loan Scheme being opposed by the opposition NPP at the time.
According to him, student nurses in second year have not received their allowances and appealed to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Dr Mahmoud Bawumia to pay the allowances to student nurses immediately.
Mr Mahama said the brain drain syndrome in the health sector had surged in recent times due to unemployment and promised to fix the economy by creating more jobs for the fruits and prosperity to be shared among all Ghanaians.
Mr. Mahama directed the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ellembelle, Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah to provide the college with a brand-new water pump to replace the old one since pressure from the water from Esiama town to the college was low to increase volume of water from the town water system into the college.
The Member of Parliament for Ellembelle, Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah said he would be in touch with the student nurses to address challenges they faced.
The Principal of the College, Mrs Cecilia Boame in a speech read on her health, said the school was in dire need of a new 60-seater bus to shuttle students outside the college for clinical services in the catchment area.
He said the current bus which was donated to the school by the late President John Evans Atta Mills was old and weak.
The SRC President of the college, Ms Humaizer Abubakar eulogized former President Mahama for the interventions and quick progress in the health sector from 2012 to 2016.
She said student nurses were made to believe lies and vain promises only to vote him out in 2016.
She said the former President’s decision to contest the seat again “is a testament of an enduring compassion to spearhead development of Ghana.