Former President John Dramani Mahama, the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has indicated that the next NDC-led government plans to abolish the quota system for enrolling student nurses into Nursing Training Colleges in the country.
Instead, the government intends to invest in the construction of more health facilities, including CHPS Compounds, new Polyclinics, Health Centres, and Hospitals. This strategic move aims to create additional job opportunities for nurses upon the completion of their courses.
The announcement was made during Former President Mahama’s address to student nurses at the Nursing and Midwifery Training College in Esiama, Ellembelle District, Western Region. This engagement was part of a two-day Building Ghana Tour, seeking input from stakeholders to be incorporated into 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 highlighted that the decision by the previous NDC government to replace training allowances with the Students Loan Scheme was made to address challenges in the health sector. He mentioned that second-year student nurses have not received their allowances and appealed to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Dr. Mahmoud Bawumia to promptly disburse the allowances.
Mahama expressed concern about the increasing brain drain in the health sector due to unemployment and pledged to create more jobs to alleviate the issue.
During his visit to the Nursing and Midwifery Training College in Esiama, he directed the MP for Ellembelle to provide a new water pump for the college and promised to address challenges facing the institution.
The MP for Ellembelle, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, assured that he would engage with student nurses to address their concerns.
The college’s Principal, Mrs. Cecilia Boame, emphasized the need for a new 60-seater bus to transport students for clinical services, citing the inadequacy of the current bus donated by the late President John Evans Atta Mills.
The SRC President of the college, Ms. Humaizer Abubakar, commended former President Mahama for his past interventions in the health sector and expressed optimism about his commitment to spearheading Ghana’s development if elected again.